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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."
Hate to break it to you guys, but the GPS will more reliably find you an optimum route than you can find yourself. That is because the GPS "knows" more than you do: current traffic conditions, road closures, etc. I know people pooh pooh GPS directions and say "I know a faster way" but they really don't 90% of the time.
Cellphones must be a godsend to 911 in this regard. I wonder how many people died over the years because they couldn't tell the ambulance where to come?
So, in a sense, we're working against natural selection now by allowing people this dumb to live when in the recent past they would have died?
Because local knowledge doesn't know about CURRENT traffic conditions or road closures or accidents or...
Neither does a GPS without an internet connection.
That's not true, for somewhat variable values of not true. I have a Garmin Nuvi 1450LMT IIRC, the LMT I'm sure about — it has liftime maps and traffic. The vehicle charging cable is also a receiver for traffic information. ISTR it's sent next to FM radio frequencies, but that could be complete horseshit. I've had it work when I've driven through metro areas.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
There ARE still big signs saying "Now leaving Country X and entering Country Y!" followed by a quick list of the rules of the road in that country - city speed, highway speed, must have lights on during daytime or not ... It really is hard to miss, ESPECIALLY when all the city names become hard to pronounce!
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