The Fallacy of the Map Maker

M. Scott Peck wrote a book called the The Road Less Traveled, an excellent book I might add, and within it he tells the story of a map maker. I don't have the book on me at the moment so I'll try to paraphrase as best I can.

There once was a map maker who was charged by the king of the realm to create the most detailed map ever to be created. The map maker was an expert in his craft and known far and wide for his skill. He took great care to collect all the data he could find to aid him in his endeavor and after many months of intense labor he finally completed his task. The map was perfect. Every blade of grass, every building, every road, every tree and sapping, every rock and pebble, and every other possible detail was well documented and demonstrated by the map. It was so good that the king decreed that it would be the official map of the realm and to be used for all official business. Years went by, then decades, centuries, and finally millennia and the map remained the official document. Yet while the map remained the same, the realm did not. Canyons now stood where there were once only rivers. towns had been abandoned and new ones built, trees were cut down to fuel industry and new forests have been planted elsewhere. The map had become outdated but rather than creating an updated version the people clung t their "perfect map" and let it lead them astray day after day, year after year.

The story of the map tells us that we must sometimes pause and question tradition. Times change as do situations and circumstances and eventually what was once the best possible course of action, can become obsolete or potentially the worst option. We must be constantly aware that as time change so too must the rules, regulations and institutions that dictate the course of our lives.

This blog is to be a guide to some of those rules, traditions, and systems that have fallen prey to the fallacy of the map maker.