Editing Map–territory relation (section)

==Commentary==
[[Gregory Bateson]], in his 1972 work ''[[Steps to an Ecology of Mind]]'', argued that understanding a territory is inherently limited by the sensory channels used to perceive it. He described the "map" of reality as an imperfect representation:
{{quote|We say the map is different from the territory. But what is the territory? Operationally, somebody went out with a retina or a measuring stick and made representations which were then put on paper. What is on the paper map is a representation of what was in the retinal representation of the man who made the map... The territory never gets in at all. Always, the process of representation will filter it out so that the mental world is only maps of maps, ''ad infinitum''.}}
Bateson further explored this in "The Cybernetics of 'Self': A Theory of Alcoholism" (1971), arguing that a map's usefulness lies in its structural analogy to the territory, rather than its literal truthfulness. For example, even a cultural belief in colds being caused by spirits can function effectively as a "map" for public health, analogous to germ theory. 

Philosopher [[David Schmidtz]] addresses the theme of accuracy in ''Elements of Justice'' (2006), highlighting how overly detailed models can become impractical, a problem also known as [[Bonini's paradox]]. Poet [[Paul Valéry]] summarized this idea: "Everything simple is false. Everything which is complex is unusable." 

The rise of electronic media and [[Jean Baudrillard]]'s concept of ''[[simulacra]]'' further complicates the map-territory distinction. In ''Simulacra and Simulation'', Baudrillard argues that in the modern age, simulations precede and even replace reality:
{{quote|Today abstraction is no longer that of the map, the double, the mirror, or the concept. Simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being or substance. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: A hyperreal. The territory no longer precedes the map, nor does it survive it. It is nevertheless the map that precedes the territory—precession of simulacra—that engenders the territory.}}