We’re all familiar with maps. There are maps for all sorts of things – cities, countries, libraries and national parks. A map is an immensely beautiful concept that can liberate and enrich. A bad mapping, however, will deceive and poison.

Fundamentally, maps are simply a correspondence from one thing to another. They represent specific relationships. As such, a map for a national park will only show points of interest and landmarks just as a Tokyo subway map will show stops and distinguish subway lines by colors. A good map is generally one that conveys a relationship quickly and offers little to no cognitive strain on its receiver.

Good mappings help us navigate our social structures and relationships and keep us intact for the most part. With bad mappings, we can be led astray and find to our dismay the calcification of belief islands forming in our minds. Belief islands are isolated and unconnected. They are hard to support since they are disjoint from any of our other beliefs. Our beliefs need to support each other and tie in to our other beliefs so as to provide a mechanism for feedback¹ to self correct. Our internal belief network would be stronger and our network hopefully would be a truer representative of our world. Small belief islands can give rise to false mountains and it is these that we must continue and strive to prevent.

Now more than ever, when our world is on the brink of climate catastrophe and those at the top inch closer to nuclear self destruction, we need cartographers in every sphere to help create the maps for our fellow travelers to safely navigate the terra incognita. And so my friends as you guide the way – in the spirit of early cartographers to warn their fellow travelers – HERE BE DRAGONS