Slashdot Mirror
Drivers Need To Forget Their GPS
HughPickens.com writes: Greg Milner writes in the NYT that an American tourist in Iceland directed the GPS unit in his rental car to guide him from Keflavik International Airport to a hotel in nearby Reykjavik, and ended up 250 icy miles away in Siglufjordur, a fishing village on the outskirts of the Arctic Circle. Mr. Santillan apparently explained that he was very tired after his flight and had "put his faith in the GPS." In another incident, a woman in Belgium asked GPS to take her to a destination less than two hours away and two days later, she turned up in Croatia. Finally disastrous incidents involving drivers following disused roads and disappearing into remote areas of Death Valley in California have became so common that park rangers gave them a name: "death by GPS." "If we're being honest, it's not that hard to imagine doing something similar ourselves" says Milner. "Most of us use GPS as a crutch while driving through unfamiliar terrain, tuning out and letting that soothing voice do the dirty work of navigating."
Could society's embrace of GPS be eroding our cognitive maps? Julia Frankenstein, a psychologist at the University of Freiburg's Center for Cognitive Science, says the danger of GPS is that "we are not forced to remember or process the information — as it is permanently 'at hand,' we need not think or decide for ourselves." "Next time you're in a new place, forget the GPS device. Study a map to get your bearings, then try to focus on your memory of it to find your way around. City maps do not tell you each step, but they provide a wealth of abstract survey knowledge. Fill in these memories with your own navigational experience, and give your brain the chance to live up to its abilities."
Could society's embrace of GPS be eroding our cognitive maps? Julia Frankenstein, a psychologist at the University of Freiburg's Center for Cognitive Science, says the danger of GPS is that "we are not forced to remember or process the information — as it is permanently 'at hand,' we need not think or decide for ourselves." "Next time you're in a new place, forget the GPS device. Study a map to get your bearings, then try to focus on your memory of it to find your way around. City maps do not tell you each step, but they provide a wealth of abstract survey knowledge. Fill in these memories with your own navigational experience, and give your brain the chance to live up to its abilities."
>> "death by GPS."
So, now is it finally legal to slap the phone out of pedestrians hands when they're about to stumble off the curb (whether into a crosswalk or not). I know I already honk at drivers who are staring at their dashboard (or their lap) as they inch through an intersection or change lanes on a highway.
Well, fucked THAT post up.
The Office
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
I'm old enough to have learned how to navigate without GPS or even maps. I use GPS nowadays
Jesus Christ Potatoes! How old ARE you?! They had already invented maps long before I was old enough to drive!
You navigated before maps? Moses, is that you?
Moses used God Positioning Service, and he was lost in the desert for 40 years. And it even drove him into a sea!
He died just after hearing "You have arrived at your destination".
And yet, these SAME women will bitch and moan at us for not asking directions.
Geez, first we gave them the vote, and then drivers licenses, and the world has gone downhill ever since then....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Put up a toll sign and profit!