The "Map-Territory Confusion" In Physics

ChRIS said:

Do you think physicists also tend to confuse the 'map' (the laws of physics) with the 'territory' (Nature, reality etc.)?

ChatGPT said:

Yes, absolutely. Many physicists treat the "map"—the mathematical laws, equations, and models—as if they are the "territory"—Nature itself. This confusion arises because physics has been so successful at predicting and describing phenomena that it's easy to mistake its formal representations for reality itself, rather than as tools for construing reality.

This "map-territory confusion" manifests in several ways:

1. Mathematical Platonism – Many physicists assume that mathematical structures exist independently of human cognition, as if the equations of physics are reality rather than being our best descriptions of patterns in experience. This is why some, like Max Tegmark, even propose that "reality is mathematics."

2. Laws as Dictates Rather than Descriptions – Instead of seeing the "laws of physics" as emergent regularities in observed phenomena, many treat them as fundamental, immutable rules that the universe must obey. This turns physical laws into something akin to divine commands rather than empirically grounded generalisations.

3. Quantum Mechanics and the Measurement Problem – The resistance to accepting that observation plays a role in "collapsing" potential into actual stems from the belief that the wavefunction is a real physical entity, rather than a mathematical tool that represents potential outcomes. Many attempts to "solve" the measurement problem (like hidden variables or Many-Worlds) are efforts to maintain a reality independent of observation, even if that leads to absurd consequences.

4. General Relativity and Spacetime – Spacetime is often treated as a thing that bends and warps, rather than as a mathematical model describing relationships between events. This is why some physicists struggle with ideas like "spacetime is emergent"—they have reified the model as though it is the fabric of reality rather than a way of describing observed gravitational effects.

So yes, the tendency to conflate the "map" (physics) with the "territory" (reality) is widespread. It's one reason why physicists often struggle with foundational questions—because they are trying to fit reality into their formal systems rather than recognising that their formal systems are tools for construing reality.