Every logical model of reality must be continuously refined

Every map (or mental model) is an approximation of reality that reduces complexity to its essential contours. Therefore, every model is wrong in some ways. It follows, then, that the strategic cartographer attempting to approximate reality in ways that are helpful must actively seek to update their models in light of new information and discoveries.

The inherent imperfections in mental models are alluded to in Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems, which contributed to the design of the OODA Loop:

Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems shaped some of Boyd’s thinking. The first theorem essentially states that any consistent, effectively axiomatized formal system capable of expressing basic arithmetic contains true statements that cannot be proven within the system. In other words, no such system can be both complete (able to prove every arithmetic truth) and consistent. Thus, a system can be consistent but incomplete, or it could theoretically be complete but inconsistent (proving everything, including contradictions). Boyd “inferred from Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems that any logical model of reality is incomplete (and possibly inconsistent) and must be continuously refined/adapted in the face of new observations.”^[1]

#cognition #strategic #mental-models