Jan 18, 2023
There is no reason to believe that cognitive maps are like iconic maps except, rather than being inscribed in the dirt, or on a rock, or imprinted on paper, they are somehow inscribed in neural tissue. They seem to be more like lists of significant places intertwined with bearings and headings between one place and another. The vital significance of these places is part and parcel of the map; the "map" is not a neutral spatial substrate to which vital significance is later attached. The space of cognitive maps is not merely about physical position; it is about needs and satisfiers, vantage points and opportunities for action.
-William Benzon, Reading Graphs Maps and Trees: Responses to Franco Moretti, pg. 57
