Map and Territory
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In other words beliefs are your map, and the truth is the (unknown) territory: Map and Territory.
When possible or important for clarity, don’t be afraid to use the full phrase that describes the truth like Ta-Nehisi Coates does with his phrase “Those who call themselves White”. Another example of increasing the precision of our map.
“ There are no surprising facts, only models that are surprised by facts; and if a model is surprised by the facts, it is no credit to that model.” (Eliezer Yudkowsky, Rationality)
Great description of Map and Territory.
This is a disagreement between two maps, about expectations for an unknown part of the territory. This type of argument is about disagreement in what unknown (likely future) experiences will be. This is an argument about knowledge, since Knowledge is testable prediction.
Pushes a self-improvement strategy of constant improvement, where you always do your best to make your map better reflect the territory.
Pushes a self-improvement strategy of constant improvement, where you always do your best to make your map better reflect the territory.
Map and Territory are not surprising in and of themselves. Only an incorrect Map and Territory|Map next to a Map and Territory can be surprising.
This is a disagreement between two maps, about expectations for an unknown part of the territory. This type of argument is about disagreement in what unknown (likely future) experiences will be. Since I think of Knowledge is testable prediction|knowledge as testable predictions, these types of disagreements are about knowledge.
- Map and Territory: The Map is how we understand the world to be. The Territory is the reality of the world. This would be considered A posteriori thought. This is where ideas like Bayesian updating will be useful.
Precision and vagueness are examples of qualities of a Map and Territory|Map. A vague Map and Territory|Map is useful for a frequently shifting value in the Map and Territory (a price that frequently changes), whereas a precise Map and Territory|Map represents a stable quality in the Map and Territory (a price that rarely changes).^[ Rationality, From A to Z#^74858f]
“There are no surprising facts, only models that are surprised by facts; and if a model is surprised by the facts, it is no credit to that model.” (Eliezer Yudkowsky, Rationality)
Great description of Map and Territory.
Another instance of Knowledge is testable prediction. Internal representations feels like Concept-space. The goal should be to align Map and Territory
“I have already remarked that nothing is inherently mysterious—nothing that actually exists, that is. If I am ignorant about a phenomenon, that is a fact about my state of mind, not a fact about the phenomenon; to worship a phenomenon because it seems so wonderfully mysterious is to worship your own ignorance; a blank map does not correspond to a blank territory, it is just somewhere we haven’t visited yet, etc., etc. . . . Which is to say that everything—everything that actually exists—is liable to end up in “the dull catalogue of common things,” sooner or later.” (Eliezer Yudkowsky, Rationality)
Some good thoughts here regarding Mysterious Answer and Map and Territory
I suspect that we can actually explain deductive logic with the same framework. All deductive logic requires a base assumption, which is like having a prior of 100% for a given state in inductive logic. This cannot be a true inductively achieved state for our map, since 100% certainty is infinite certainty. However, we can use deductive logic as a tool to append to our inductive logic.
This will give us a new ability to blend between our Map and Territory. Both literally (overlaying map info over our view of the world), and figuratively ( blend information or representation with our senses of the world)
“I have already remarked that nothing is inherently mysterious—nothing that actually exists, that is. If I am ignorant about a phenomenon, that is a fact about my state of mind, not a fact about the phenomenon; to worship a phenomenon because it seems so wonderfully mysterious is to worship your own ignorance; a blank map does not correspond to a blank territory, it is just somewhere we haven’t visited yet, etc., etc. . . . Which is to say that everything—everything that actually exists—is liable to end up in “the dull catalogue of common things,” sooner or later.” (Eliezer Yudkowsky, Rationality)
Some good thoughts here regarding Mysterious Answer and Map and Territory