Mental maps are the organized repertoire you bring to a situation: what you know, believe, expect, want, and are prepared to do. Developed through experience, they shape what you notice, how you make sense of it, what you anticipate, and what you’re inclined to do.
I borrow the map and terrain metaphor from Alfred Korzybski’s Science and Sanity (1933). Korzybski used the distinction between maps and territory to emphasize that our representations of the world are not the world itself. He talked extensively about neurological aspects of maps where I use the term more generally. He also talked about territory where I say terrain.
Mental maps aren’t simply representations of situations, relationships, people, and organizations. They’re also dispositional: they include prior experience you bring to a moment or situation, and what you’re inclined or prepared to notice, judge, feel, and do. Your experiences, learning, responsibilities, purposes, and expectations contribute to their development. They’re not external objects you consult. They’re part of how you encounter and act in the world.
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