Korzybski's maxim states "The map is not the territory".
I imagine that you were not expecting to read a post about a man who is considered the father of general semantics, but here it is... I don't know about you but I am thinking that this guy is pretty cool. He also said that a "word is not the thing." He would start his lectures by banging on the table and shouting "Whatever this is, it is not a table!"
Cool, isn't it?
So why the post on this eccentric semanti-hipster? Well, we have been looking for a good map of Tegucigalpa for a few months, they do not seem to exist. We have used the google maps the iphone and whenever we do we get more lost! Like the rest of the world Tegucigalpa refuses to be reduced to the simplicity of a map. As we spend more time in the "real" Tegucigalpa we are creating a map of our own in our heads. Everyday we learn more and our new city feels more familiar. Our mental representations are not the real Tegucigalpa of course... but as we are in Tegucigalpa, it seems that there is some Tegucigalpa in us.
Love it! my favorite T-Shirt company was always "this is not a hat". I thought that that was brilliant.
ReplyDelete