map

Contrast with territory. A broad metaphor for one’s personal, mental model of the universe—one’s beliefs, intuitions, expectations, heuristics, predictions, memories, etc. Like an actual map, one’s personal map may be more or less accurate and more or less complete, and the differences between one’s map and the actual territory (reality) may cause one to become “lost” or confused (and to take action in inappropriate directions, given one’s goals).