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name: map-vs-territory description: Empiricism and Reality Checking. Prioritizing runtime truth over documentation. Use when debugging discrepancies, validating APIs, or when code comments might be outdated. license: MIT

Map vs. Territory (The Reality Check)

"The map is not the territory." - Alfred Korzybski

When to Use

• Debugging: When "it should work" but doesn't.
• Integration: When using 3rd party APIs or libraries.
• Legacy Code: When comments don't match the code.

The Protocol: The Reality Check

Do not trust the Map (Docs, Comments, Variable Names). Trust the Territory (Logs, Memory, Disk, Network).

1. The Doubt

Identify the "Map" you are relying on.

• "The comment says this function returns a User."
• "The variable is named isValid."
• "The API docs say it returns 200 OK."

2. The Probe

Active verify the Territory.

[!IMPORTANT] DO NOT READ CODE. RUN CODE. Reading code is reading the Map. Running code is touching the Territory.

• Action: print(type(user)) -> Is it actually a User object? or a Dict? or None?
• Action: console.log(isValid) -> Is it true? 1? "true"?
• Action: Inspect the raw HTTP body.

[!TIP] Fallback: If you cannot run code directly, ask the user to run it and report the output.

3. The Update

If Map $\neq$ Territory, The Map is Wrong.

• Update the docs/comments.
• Rename the variable (isValid -> shouldBeValid).
• Fix the mental model.