What you see is not what it is [The map is not the territory]

As we consume the news of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan and learn about their atrocities on people, we feel a sense of aloof sympathy for Afghans. We do feel sympathetic for sure, but it is an aloof sympathy as long as we do not have any of our relatives trapped in Afghanistan trying to catch the last rescue flight out of that country. At the same time, there are people in some countries devouring the same news and feeling elated about the developments happening in Afghanistan. They are celebrating the victory of the Taliban against the US forces and western agencies. Same event, different interpretations, and different emotional reactions.

The map is not the territory is one of the main principles on which the world of NLP revolves. In simple words, it means that the same event (reality) is absorbed and interpreted differently by different people. And therefore, different people will have different maps of the same event (reality). We create inside our minds maps for everything, and these are our unique representations of the world around us. It’s how we see and perceive the world. That is why two people could witness the same event unfold in front of their eyes and have a completely different story to tell! And, therefore we say that every person in this world is a world in himself. And, that can make every person so very interesting for us!

Our brain receives 2 million bits of information (inputs) from its surroundings every second. If it had to process and interpret all these 2 million bits of information instantly and continuously, it for sure would burn and burst. Luckily, it’s not just a processor, it’s a processor with a soul that always intends to keep us safe and alive. So what it does is, out of the 2 million bits of input it receives, it absorbs and processes only 1,30,000 bits. Which comes to only around 6% of the total input we receive at any moment. It does this with 3 simple and smart strategies: 

 1) Deletion, 2) Distortion, and 3) Generalizing.

Let us understand what these three things mean and how they save our brains from overheating and bursting. As always, we shall use Google Maps to traverse our way through unknown territory. Let us assume that we are using Google maps to reach our destination in a busy city to which we are new. The map on our screens will have the following characteristics:

1. You can see the roads on the map but you cannot see the cars, the trucks, and the buildings. It’s because they are not important on our map and we can reach our destination without worrying about every car and every building that comes our way. (Unless there’s a building right in the middle of the road and it’s deleted by Google Maps, and we try to drive through it just because our map says there is nothing there). This is deletion. Deletion helps us to ignore unnecessary information and focus on what’s required (remember 1.30 lac bits of input out of 2 million bits of information). Until we decided to buy a new house, we did not notice the new township project coming up on our everyday road to the office. It was there every day, but our brain just deleted it as it considered it unnecessary. 
2. Our map shows us different types of roads with different colours. When we see a red or orange patch on the road ahead in our map, we know that there’s a jam ahead. When we see a blue coloured space on the map, we know that there’s a lake or some water body. This is a generalization. Our brain generalizes information by comparing it with past experiences/ past knowledge so that we don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time. Our brain generalizes that it is not safe to touch hot objects or go near the fire based on our past experiences.
3. The map we see on our screen is a highly scaled down visual representation of the real area. And it is flat, but we don’t complain because it serves our purpose. To organize and retrieve information effectively, our brain distorts information by making something bigger or smaller than it is in reality. Just like when we study a highly magnified image of cell structure. Distortion helps us to focus on the critical part and take quick and accurate decisions by neglecting the unnecessary information.

So, this is how we create maps of our reality by deleting, generalizing, and distorting information. The process serves us well as long as our maps of reality are matching with reality and also with other people’s maps of reality. Trouble starts when our map does not reflect reality or does not match with the map of the Taliban or anyone else. Let us see how trouble starts:

When some critical information is deleted: Like when we chose to oversee (delete) the flaws and attitude issues of a person we have a crush on. Or when we are not able to recollect where we kept our keys (temporary deletion).

When there is an over-generalization: A woman whose partner cheated on her might overgeneralize that all men are pigs. Or the erroneous belief that every multinational company treats its employees well.

When there is an erroneous distortion: We believe that our colleague is having a great time with his family just by seeing their Instagram and Facebook posts. Or we believe that everything made in China will be cheap and unreliable.

Even the best map can have some inherent flaws. Let’s see how our maps can deceive us:

1. Our map may be incorrect or may not be incorporating changed realities without us realizing it.
2. A map will delete, distort and generalize a lot of information which means that there is every chance that some critical information may be left out. This can affect the outcome of our decisions.
3. Ultimately, the usefulness of a map lies in its proper interpretation and we know that two people can interpret the same map in different ways.

So this is how we create our inner world to represent the outer world by conveniently deleting, distorting, and generalizing information. As a result, we often create beliefs that do not match reality. Such erroneous beliefs restrict our capacity for growth and happiness. When we rely on old, outdated maps, we start imagining limits and constraints where there are none. Let us be sceptical of our maps and remember that our maps (belief systems) can have limitations and may even be outdated. We should be ready to update and even discard our old maps to incorporate our new understanding of the world. We should also accept and respect other’s maps even if they do not match with ours.

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programing) provides us with effective and proven techniques to delete the negative and unresourceful beliefs that hold us back from our much-deserved success and happiness. NLP also helps us to reprogram our minds with new, resourceful beliefs and maps that enhance the quality of our lives. And all this is is done in just a few quick sessions with the help of an NLP practitioner. I am a certified NLP Practioner from Nuvis Coach – a member of the International NLP Forum. I help people dispose of their deep-rooted unresourceful beliefs and replace them with positive, life-enhancing belief systems. You can get in touch with me to discuss anything related to this and how NLP can enhance our lives- quickly and effectively.