The Map And The Territory Re: Why Rationality Is Wrong

[jimboJones]

In response to the video 'Why Rationality is WRONG! - A critique of rationalism. If science gave us a theory of everything i.e. we had a model that could 100% predict the world as it appears in awareness with all its arationality, then for all practical purposes, would the map not become so similar to the territory or even identical that the difference no longer matters?

Of course it won't be reality due to the fact that it's born of symbols but you get the gist. Am I missing something obvious? 

Thanks 

[Truth]

Even if we had a 1000% accuracy map its still a map. Think about an atom, we have a concept of an atom and an image, we are limited to our images and conceptual frameworks, there's a difference in having an image and having a thought about an atom to having the actual raw truth of an atom. We are limited to our subjectivity. Its still the map, not the territory. The problem is most people are doing this right now. So think about yourself, do you find yourself caught up in the map and not the territory? If you've been meditating you know the power of having the raw truth about what's happening right now in the moment, the sensations, the feelings, the sounds, thoughts, images and the awareness -- The truth about our own subjectivity, and that you are part of the territory, you are not the map of the territory. Which is where most people get stuck.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Truth

[Shantanu]

What it means is this:

With very accurate map, you can go from one place to another. You can use it as guide for navigation.

Now what happens it this, since you reach at new place as shown in the map, our mind tricks us believing its the exact territory.  But if you see, map does not tell you about many characteristics of territory. It'll not tell you about what constituted with territory, it'll not tell you for instance what shaped its geography, it'll not tell you about weather, elevations, type of soil, who lives there, how will it exactly look, how will it smell at particular point on map. We can use the map only to navigate from point A to pt B. Otherwise that map is mostly useless. 

Same is the case with atom. We can have diagrams of it, we can show electron moving about nucleus. But that not how atom actually is. Long time ago we thought atom is the basic and smallest element, then we discovered electrons, then we discovered even electrons are not smallest particles.. 

This is go on and on. We'll keep on correcting our diagrams/ maps, we'll make them appear to be true, real, we can play video in 3d showing atomic structure. It'll feel real. But its not truth about atom. Its our hypothesis and frameworks which we confuse with reality.

Sound is reality for bats, vibrations is reality for snakes, as human we make see and sense more, but can that be a actual reality? Think twice here.