Conceptmapping Thesis: Chapter 2, part 8. Structure more than content
2.8 Structure more than content
The key word is structure. Korzybski concluded that the map was so useful simply because it retains the structure of the territory that it mimics.
Whatever the medium for the target representation, reality has to be translated in order to fit it onto a representation, if the complexity of the structure is beyond that afforded by the medium then some information is lost and the operation cannot be perfectly reversible.
Donald Norman covers the idea of structural similarity in his book, ‘Design of Everyday Things’, arguing that to be intuitive, devices should mimic the natural structure of the components being controlled. For example, light switches on a wall should be laid out in the same structural manner as the lights on the ceiling. This provides the brain with implicit knowledge and, by doing so, bypasses any need for the conscious mind to interpret. This idea is called the Map-Territory relationship and is well known in cognitive science.