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How Not to Be Fooled · Chapter 1

The Map Is Not the Place

Models are allowed to lie a little — the honest ones tell you how

A cartoon park map, a classroom globe, and a GPS arrow that points into the ducks. Jules learns the first rule of not being fooled: a model is a tool, not the world.

12 panels · ~6 min read

A kid at a park gate compares a simplified paper map with the real winding paths and pond ahead, while a researcher looks on.

Panel 1

A researcher holds a spare diagram of park paths beside a kid's cartoon map, comparing what each drawing left out.

Panel 2

A kid holds a simple school floor plan in a hallway that is messier and more three-dimensional than the drawing.

Panel 3

A colorful weather map on a screen shows a sun icon while rain streaks the window in front of a kid and a researcher.

Panel 4

A globe and a flat classroom world map sit side by side so Greenland looks huge on the map and modest on the globe.

Panel 5

A kid kneels beside a wooden toy train city of blocks and a simple loop of track, treating it as a stand-in for a real city.

Panel 6

A researcher holds a stick-figure sketch of a kid while the real kid looks at it skeptically.

Panel 7

A researcher writes a short idea on a napkin while a kid reads it: models miss things, but some still help you decide.

Panel 8

A phone GPS arrow points into a pond while a real wooden footbridge is clearly visible to the other side.

Panel 9

A kid checks a wristwatch while a researcher points at the sun, comparing two ways of estimating the time.

Panel 10

A researcher taps the real pond with a stick while a kid still holds the cartoon map, checking the drawing against the water.

Panel 11

At dusk a kid sketches a new park map with a warning that it is not the park, while a researcher looks on proudly.

Panel 12

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