# What are the properties of maps? # What are the properties of maps “Maps”, “Mapping”, and “Roadmaps” feel like [[Suitcase Handle Word]]s but there is a nugget of desire in using them. What are we really yearning for from a map? * [[Maps are multi-scale]]. You can get some information just by glancing at a map and then more and different information by zooming in. Fractals were literally discovered by someone mapping coastlines.[[Every time you zoom in on a fractal, it presents the same pattern on a different scale]]. * If a map doesn’t give you something useful on first glance, it’s not doing its job. * Most pure-text roadmaps fail on this point - it’s very hard to get something useful on first glance from pure text unless it has a well crafted outline. * If you can’t get different useful things when you investigate a map more closely it’s not doing its job. * [[Maps help you understand the state of something]]. * If you don’t understand the state of something better after looking at a map, it’s not doing its job. * [[Maps help you figure out possibilities]]. Even the medieval T-O map let you know that you could get to Africa from Europe by crossing the mediterranean. * *Roadmaps* explicitly point out those possibilities in an opinionated way. * If you can’t figure out possible (and unallowable moves) from a map, it’s not doing its job.  ### Types of maps * Conceptual ### Related * [[Wardley Maps]]