As a fellow eldest daughter who has been unknowingly becoming her boomer father, I’ve never related more to a rant. People using Google maps to travel 10 blocks and not knowing where they live hurts my heart and my brain.
It's not an option for all of us. Developmental topographical disorientation is a form of neurodivergence in which the brain can't form cognitive maps; it's thought to affect about 2% of the population. I have it (properly diagnosed), as do two of my sisters, while my mum couldn't drive, navigate, give directions or reliably tell left from right. I struggle finding my way back to my table if I go to the loo in a pub or restaurant and often end up in the kitchen, men's, or even outside; driving is very challenging (roundabouts are more or less off limits, and I only drive very locally) and I couldn't draw you a map of the tiny village I've lived in for years. The bit of my brain that's supposed to do these things isn't there and never has been; instead of this developing since satnavs, I can remember being a very small child (six or seven) and realising that something was different about me compared to the way other kids moved about in the world, though I couldn't put words to it. I still move around with a sort of grey blur beyond what I can actually see and while I hide it a lot I'm getting better at admitting it. Mostly, though, it's exhausting (the cognitive load when trying to get around is really high) and it causes a lot of anxiety that can be debilitating.
This is me and I didn’t know it had a name. I literally get lost in buffet restaurants. I had so much trouble getting around the campus of every school I went to. My doctor even recommended I see a neurologist!
It’s liberating to realise it’s not your fault! And I was able to tell my driving instructor about it which was really helpful. It’s liberating just to know it’s not your fault. Good luck!
I had to stop driving because of this very problem—when I did drive, I had to be guided by a chaperone via a very exact route several times so that I could memorize it. (GPS for the public, or satnav depending where you are, didn't really exist at the time. Neither did iPods, let alone iPhones. And I also had to be guided by chaperone several times to learn how to walk to my classes from my dorm.) This caused a major problem when in college I learned one route to get back to my apartment from campus and… THERE WAS CONSTRUCTION!!! Panicking, I told myself that I could simply make an early left and then a right and then another right. Fast-forward to much, much later; I was hopelessly lost. By the time I was able to get back to the memorized route, I was able to go home... because I'd been lost for so long that the construction had ended. 😂😂😂 I can laugh about it now, but it was truly harrowing. I'm incredibly grateful for GPS and such nowadays, even though I still often mix up left and right when I try to get around without it.
I can relate. I only drive locally, but even then I got lost for an hour when there was a road closure: my satnav kept sending me in circles because it didn’t know and just kept routing me back to the closed road. The rising panic. Awful. People don’t realise how disabling it can be.
I’ve noticed that Google Maps has been suggesting what I believe to be “unethical routes.” On a trip to Los Angeles, it suggested getting around freeway traffic by driving down the off-ramps and immediately back up the on-ramp. This would let you skip past maybe a dozen or so cars stuck on the freeway, and over time, would shave off a significant amount of time from your trip. But it would only work if nobody else utilized the tactic, because if more than one or two cars at a time were doing it, it would cease to be effective. I’ve often felt misled, geographically, by my GPS but that was the first time I felt misled *morally.*
Loved this essay and in particular the description of MapQuest printouts or if I had no printer, hand written directions taped to my steering wheel… a concerning loss for sure and something I think about often!
Okay this is exactly how I’ve been feeling about other things we use our phones for, such as looking something up that we *may* already know. I’ve noticed since we’ve been able to have all the answers so quickly at our disposal, my once cast spelling skills seem to have deteriorated. I mean, I went from finishing 7th in the fifth grade spelling bee (it’s one of my few academic achievements so yea, I will continue to share this fun fact about myself from 30 years ago) to now having to do a quick dictionary.com search *just* to confirm I’ve gotten the word right. I can feel myself getting dumber by the day but the perfectionist in me can’t stop herself from knowing if the answers are “right”. I remember so often when I would ask a question, my parents would tell me to look it up on our set of encyclopedias. Even though it was certain number of books with a limited amount of space, they always seemed to have the answer!
When I move to a new city, I’ll use GPS to get to where I need to go if there’s a specific time I need to be there (appointment, meeting up with someone, etc.), but I always try to figure out my way home without the GPS. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes longer than it should have, but I actually learn my new home fairly quickly! Definitely recommend giving it a try.
I am thoroughly enjoying reading the comments about this as I’m EXCELLENT with direction, but know so many who are not. Disclosure: I am 50 years old, I have been driving for 36 years, have hiked remote mountains, navigated metropolises, and frequently get asked by strangers for directions in my city (and I’m delighted to help!). I am so good at navigation that when I was in the Canadian Armed Forces as an Infantry Radio Operator, (a position that no longer exists since comms equipment no longer weighs so much it needs a separate person to carry it all), I was given the navigation duties by my commanding officer as a matter of course, because I could get us to the exact dot on the map we were supposed to be. I’m a damned migratory bird!! BUT!! I am also unusual. I know many folks who have never, given any technology or lack thereof of the last 150 years - counting my great-grandparents here - who cannot under any threat or reward, navigate for shit. My mom’s dad’s dad had my skill. But precious few others even in my variously neurologically diverse family. Not the ‘normies’, not the ‘oddies’ like me. I fully believe being able to orient yourself and venture forth with actual skill is uncommon. No map, signpost, or GPS can change that. Are we maybe not discovering talents on account of this tech? Eh. Maybe. But, then, if it ain’t hurting you or others, who’s worried? That said, orienteering is FUN! Lots of groups exist. Do it! Have a blast! Urban or forested, I heartily recommend it. 😃👍🏻❤️
Spell check, for example 😭 I know we're all better for it, but I did some volunteering with high school kids recently and was very unpleasantly surprised at how some very simple words eluded them without access to a digital aid.
The scariest part of Leave the World Behind movie or book was when the satellites went down and GPS no longer worked. Ever since watching, I’ve poked at my husband for opening a map app when driving around town. It’s an essential life skill for the apocalypse!
I recently got served a TikTok on my for you page from a neurologist talking about things he wouldn't do as a neurologist, and one of them was use navigation unless absolutely needed. He basically said it's turning our brains to mush.
Greatest post game of Where’s Waldo. Many places look the same. GPS satellite navigation sees the whole world, but May not see finer details. GPS said there was a road that would take you to a main highway. Turned out to be a cow path. Dementia kicks in where feet fear to tread. Age gets you lost in a condo complex. That’s when you need a friend. Maps are great tools, but too old construction replaced a road that would was there. Even trip-tick navigation clearly marked make mistakes. Pilots still rely on sextants, magnetic north an knowing sun rises in east, sets in west. There is more to this story Clara. But you have provided a map that is currently available except for those with their phones and the batteries dead. You are in a shady part of town. It’s night. What do you do? Stop and ask for directions? The story continues.
I have always wanted a version of GPS that only tells me the four or so steps prior to my final destination or one that tells me the amount of time left until I reach a place I know how to get to.
I can often do the beginning of a route but not the end and I wish there was a way to adapt GPS to our continued use of the tool to prevent this? Extraordinarily relatable read, and another contemporary system I wish we gave more thought to thinking about.
it's useful to look at Socrates' and Plato's fears about what the new-tangled technology of writing would do to human wisdom, memory, knowledge, communication, and depth of understanding.
Very fascinating look at . I feel like I could intuit my way around my home state just by feel no matter where I am because I lived there for so long. However, I do not have that comfort with my current city, where I've lived since 2018, and it's due, I'm sure, to the fact that I've always had GPS since living here. Similarly, I was with my 18-year-old yesterday, who was practicing freeway driving. I've come to learn they do not know the names of freeways or where they run relative to other parts of the city at all. But this child has never lived in a non-GPS world, so they seem to have no idea how to get around unassisted. I found this baffling, but it's interesting to see that this is not something unique to my kid.
I found this to be very true and also so cute. As a GenX'er I remember maps and hittin a gas station in the next state over to grab one during a road trip. Those were good times. As a parent I wanted my kids to be able to tell time on a clock, write checks and balance their check books and also figure out direction without a phone. I was 100% on the first two and got close with the latter. We live in a town near the main highway which runs North/South and also happen to live on a corner of an East Ave, drive down the block a few and there's (you guessed it) West Ave. If for only these reasons my kids get directional things locally, but I tried, I really did.
As a fellow (half) Uruguayan eldest daughter (also Clara) turning into her father (who used to quiz us at random intervals on which cardinal direction we were facing) I am feeling VERY SEEN.
Also, I am watching my students real time lose the ability to read long form text in part because of (de)generative AI so I appreciate this connection.
As a fellow eldest daughter who has been unknowingly becoming her boomer father, I’ve never related more to a rant. People using Google maps to travel 10 blocks and not knowing where they live hurts my heart and my brain.
Thank you for correctly identifying this as a rant, friend. We must discuss when I'm back!!!
It's not an option for all of us. Developmental topographical disorientation is a form of neurodivergence in which the brain can't form cognitive maps; it's thought to affect about 2% of the population. I have it (properly diagnosed), as do two of my sisters, while my mum couldn't drive, navigate, give directions or reliably tell left from right. I struggle finding my way back to my table if I go to the loo in a pub or restaurant and often end up in the kitchen, men's, or even outside; driving is very challenging (roundabouts are more or less off limits, and I only drive very locally) and I couldn't draw you a map of the tiny village I've lived in for years. The bit of my brain that's supposed to do these things isn't there and never has been; instead of this developing since satnavs, I can remember being a very small child (six or seven) and realising that something was different about me compared to the way other kids moved about in the world, though I couldn't put words to it. I still move around with a sort of grey blur beyond what I can actually see and while I hide it a lot I'm getting better at admitting it. Mostly, though, it's exhausting (the cognitive load when trying to get around is really high) and it causes a lot of anxiety that can be debilitating.
This is me and I didn’t know it had a name. I literally get lost in buffet restaurants. I had so much trouble getting around the campus of every school I went to. My doctor even recommended I see a neurologist!
There are some useful resources here, and online tests (quite full on!): https://www.info.gettinglost.ca/
Thank you for this!!!
It’s liberating to realise it’s not your fault! And I was able to tell my driving instructor about it which was really helpful. It’s liberating just to know it’s not your fault. Good luck!
I had to stop driving because of this very problem—when I did drive, I had to be guided by a chaperone via a very exact route several times so that I could memorize it. (GPS for the public, or satnav depending where you are, didn't really exist at the time. Neither did iPods, let alone iPhones. And I also had to be guided by chaperone several times to learn how to walk to my classes from my dorm.) This caused a major problem when in college I learned one route to get back to my apartment from campus and… THERE WAS CONSTRUCTION!!! Panicking, I told myself that I could simply make an early left and then a right and then another right. Fast-forward to much, much later; I was hopelessly lost. By the time I was able to get back to the memorized route, I was able to go home... because I'd been lost for so long that the construction had ended. 😂😂😂 I can laugh about it now, but it was truly harrowing. I'm incredibly grateful for GPS and such nowadays, even though I still often mix up left and right when I try to get around without it.
I can relate. I only drive locally, but even then I got lost for an hour when there was a road closure: my satnav kept sending me in circles because it didn’t know and just kept routing me back to the closed road. The rising panic. Awful. People don’t realise how disabling it can be.
I’ve noticed that Google Maps has been suggesting what I believe to be “unethical routes.” On a trip to Los Angeles, it suggested getting around freeway traffic by driving down the off-ramps and immediately back up the on-ramp. This would let you skip past maybe a dozen or so cars stuck on the freeway, and over time, would shave off a significant amount of time from your trip. But it would only work if nobody else utilized the tactic, because if more than one or two cars at a time were doing it, it would cease to be effective. I’ve often felt misled, geographically, by my GPS but that was the first time I felt misled *morally.*
Loved this essay and in particular the description of MapQuest printouts or if I had no printer, hand written directions taped to my steering wheel… a concerning loss for sure and something I think about often!
Okay this is exactly how I’ve been feeling about other things we use our phones for, such as looking something up that we *may* already know. I’ve noticed since we’ve been able to have all the answers so quickly at our disposal, my once cast spelling skills seem to have deteriorated. I mean, I went from finishing 7th in the fifth grade spelling bee (it’s one of my few academic achievements so yea, I will continue to share this fun fact about myself from 30 years ago) to now having to do a quick dictionary.com search *just* to confirm I’ve gotten the word right. I can feel myself getting dumber by the day but the perfectionist in me can’t stop herself from knowing if the answers are “right”. I remember so often when I would ask a question, my parents would tell me to look it up on our set of encyclopedias. Even though it was certain number of books with a limited amount of space, they always seemed to have the answer!
When I move to a new city, I’ll use GPS to get to where I need to go if there’s a specific time I need to be there (appointment, meeting up with someone, etc.), but I always try to figure out my way home without the GPS. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes longer than it should have, but I actually learn my new home fairly quickly! Definitely recommend giving it a try.
I am thoroughly enjoying reading the comments about this as I’m EXCELLENT with direction, but know so many who are not. Disclosure: I am 50 years old, I have been driving for 36 years, have hiked remote mountains, navigated metropolises, and frequently get asked by strangers for directions in my city (and I’m delighted to help!). I am so good at navigation that when I was in the Canadian Armed Forces as an Infantry Radio Operator, (a position that no longer exists since comms equipment no longer weighs so much it needs a separate person to carry it all), I was given the navigation duties by my commanding officer as a matter of course, because I could get us to the exact dot on the map we were supposed to be. I’m a damned migratory bird!! BUT!! I am also unusual. I know many folks who have never, given any technology or lack thereof of the last 150 years - counting my great-grandparents here - who cannot under any threat or reward, navigate for shit. My mom’s dad’s dad had my skill. But precious few others even in my variously neurologically diverse family. Not the ‘normies’, not the ‘oddies’ like me. I fully believe being able to orient yourself and venture forth with actual skill is uncommon. No map, signpost, or GPS can change that. Are we maybe not discovering talents on account of this tech? Eh. Maybe. But, then, if it ain’t hurting you or others, who’s worried? That said, orienteering is FUN! Lots of groups exist. Do it! Have a blast! Urban or forested, I heartily recommend it. 😃👍🏻❤️
As a millennial, I totally agree with this. I find it very concerning that people rely SO MUCH on their phones for navigation and other things.
Spell check, for example 😭 I know we're all better for it, but I did some volunteering with high school kids recently and was very unpleasantly surprised at how some very simple words eluded them without access to a digital aid.
The scariest part of Leave the World Behind movie or book was when the satellites went down and GPS no longer worked. Ever since watching, I’ve poked at my husband for opening a map app when driving around town. It’s an essential life skill for the apocalypse!
I recently got served a TikTok on my for you page from a neurologist talking about things he wouldn't do as a neurologist, and one of them was use navigation unless absolutely needed. He basically said it's turning our brains to mush.
Greatest post game of Where’s Waldo. Many places look the same. GPS satellite navigation sees the whole world, but May not see finer details. GPS said there was a road that would take you to a main highway. Turned out to be a cow path. Dementia kicks in where feet fear to tread. Age gets you lost in a condo complex. That’s when you need a friend. Maps are great tools, but too old construction replaced a road that would was there. Even trip-tick navigation clearly marked make mistakes. Pilots still rely on sextants, magnetic north an knowing sun rises in east, sets in west. There is more to this story Clara. But you have provided a map that is currently available except for those with their phones and the batteries dead. You are in a shady part of town. It’s night. What do you do? Stop and ask for directions? The story continues.
I have always wanted a version of GPS that only tells me the four or so steps prior to my final destination or one that tells me the amount of time left until I reach a place I know how to get to.
I can often do the beginning of a route but not the end and I wish there was a way to adapt GPS to our continued use of the tool to prevent this? Extraordinarily relatable read, and another contemporary system I wish we gave more thought to thinking about.
it's useful to look at Socrates' and Plato's fears about what the new-tangled technology of writing would do to human wisdom, memory, knowledge, communication, and depth of understanding.
*new-fangled -- I fell victim to autocorrect's best intentions 😅
Very fascinating look at . I feel like I could intuit my way around my home state just by feel no matter where I am because I lived there for so long. However, I do not have that comfort with my current city, where I've lived since 2018, and it's due, I'm sure, to the fact that I've always had GPS since living here. Similarly, I was with my 18-year-old yesterday, who was practicing freeway driving. I've come to learn they do not know the names of freeways or where they run relative to other parts of the city at all. But this child has never lived in a non-GPS world, so they seem to have no idea how to get around unassisted. I found this baffling, but it's interesting to see that this is not something unique to my kid.
I found this to be very true and also so cute. As a GenX'er I remember maps and hittin a gas station in the next state over to grab one during a road trip. Those were good times. As a parent I wanted my kids to be able to tell time on a clock, write checks and balance their check books and also figure out direction without a phone. I was 100% on the first two and got close with the latter. We live in a town near the main highway which runs North/South and also happen to live on a corner of an East Ave, drive down the block a few and there's (you guessed it) West Ave. If for only these reasons my kids get directional things locally, but I tried, I really did.
As a fellow (half) Uruguayan eldest daughter (also Clara) turning into her father (who used to quiz us at random intervals on which cardinal direction we were facing) I am feeling VERY SEEN.
Also, I am watching my students real time lose the ability to read long form text in part because of (de)generative AI so I appreciate this connection.