How Does GPS Change Us?

ATKeiper writes "People have talked for a while about the effects of GPS on our driving ability and our sense of direction; one researcher at McGill has even been developing an exercise regimen to compensate for our supposedly atrophying navigational ability. But is GPS reshaping our lives in a more fundamental sense? The author of this new essay draws on science, sociology, and literature to argue that GPS is transforming how we think about travel and exploration. How can we discover 'the new' in an age when everything around us is mapped?" My own experience is that GPS has made me much more aware of location, by showing me the bird's-eye view, and letting me instantly compare alternate routes.

Comments

Re:GPS kills

[plover]

One of my favorite scenes from the movie "Rat Race" was when Whoopi Goldberg followed Kathy Bates' instructions to the freeway without buying a squirrel from her. As they're plunging down the embankment to land in the pile of wrecked cars, they pass a series of hand-lettered signs:

You
Should
Have
Bought
A
Squirrel

Re:GPS kills

[Hognoxious]

The GPS puts them on some kind of goat trail, they get stuck, and then found a month later, dead.

Well, yes. I just went through this a couple of weeks ago on a hiking trip.

I must say, you're looking rather well, all considered.