When these types of articles show up, I always think about the feelSpace compass belt, https://www.wired.com/2007/04/esp/.

So rad that you can train your senses using ambient tools like this.

I think it's funny that GPS is a result of human's fear of being lost! Like it's a deep-seated survival thing and we've made it so easy now to avoid it. :) 

I am not a cab driver but I am a daily runner. As such, I often run in new places and cities (esp. when traveling). The funny thing about running is how hard I try to avoid "out and back" routes even though they make it essentially impossible to get lost. That means I am often doing exploratory runs in new places hoping the other end of the loop is my hotel! The wonderful thing is that after 35 years of running, not only do I always make it back okay, I also find my desired mileage almost always spot on as well. I don't take any credit for this ability, it is all my brain's doing!

As a recent-ish transplant to a new area with confusing streets (DC and surrounds) I often feel very stuck without GPS, but at the same time keep actively trying to notice where I am and turn the GPS off whenever possible. One of the innate things I've retained from my Boy Scout days is being able to find north and orient myself, and that's not something I ever want to lose.

Looking forward to reading this.

I'm guessing it's not mere coincidence that this comes shortly after JK linked to the study that found that dementia / Alzheimer's is least prevalent in cab and ambulance drivers - those who have to mentally map and live-find their way for a living.

i have a terrible sense of direction with or without GPS. i get lost all the time even on bicycle routes i have taken 100s of times if there's  construction or the slightest change. i do agree that it's good to try and not use GPS and apps the 2nd or 3rd time you go somewhere. As a tourist, GPS is invaluable for actually you know getting to a museum :-) ?!?! When I bicycle to a new place, pre-planning with paper maps and apps and not relying on GPS (or at least using it as a sanity check only) is what I do and it's much better way to get your brain to remember the directions! #ymmv

IMO, by not getting lost, we've lost some patience and playfulness when things don't go as expected. Alas, I can't read the article, but I was just talking with my kid about this a few weeks ago, and I tied it directly to not getting lost enough.

When the old, out-of-the-way bookstore I wanted to go to didn't have the book she wanted, she considered it inefficient of me to take her there. But I didn't mind the time spent, the gander at something different, etc. And I mentioned how I used to get lost all the time (back in my day lolsob), having to figure things out, and learning to be okay with it because it was eventually kind of fun to go on accidental side quests and happen upon new things. 

"Life is a journey and not a destination" isn't really the GPS mindset.

I love that this work is getting traction here! 

I actually study this problem for a living -- I'm  a cognitive neuroscientist who studies spatial navigation and how it works in the brain. (Shachar Maidenbaum, quoted in the story, does amazing work!) 

In our work with older adults, we've found that many of them who are able to rely on GPS can use it to supplement their diminishing navigation skills, notable since many of them came from a generation of paper maps. 

The other thing I'll add is that GPS is really not a one-size-fits-all kind of tool. It does loads of different things -- it handles detours, it can reroute seamlessly, it provides traffic and can accommodate driving preferences. It's often ABOUT navigation; but it's definitely not ONLY doing navigation for us. 

I mostly lament that GPS doesn't allow us to engage more with our surroundings or help us learn to keep our bearings more easily. A lost opportunity at the moment, in my opinion...

This reminds me of the fascinating feature of an indigenous Australian language, in which - to put it very roughly - speakers do not use left and right but instead use cardinal directions (well, or something similar but culturally/linguistically/geographically specialized). So you have to know which direction you are facing at all times in order to be able to speak about concepts, movements that English uses left and right for. Here's an article that gives a little more detail.

This morning I was walking through what I'd guess one would call a mart, a building of winding corridors with about two dozen independent shops. They are all quirky (bespoke?) and interesting and full of surprising inventory that forces you to explore and take the time to notice. I've patronized some of these shops for over 15 years but others come and go and there's always someplace new. When I step into one of these stores for the first time, I always have to stop and orient myself. I have to figure out the layout, spot the checkout, nod to the owner if they're not busy, and then chart a course down one of the aisles.

Contrast this to walking into a Starbucks or any familiar chain convenience or box store. You can walk into a particular store you've never entered but know instantly what they serve and how to order, and practically sleepwalk through the whole process on the way back to your car.

When I was a kid my parents were always stopping at marts like these. There were low-end fast food McDonald's, Ginos, and Roy Rodgers but not the whole plethora of Applebee's and Olive Garden clones; for that kind of food we'd have to go to an independent diner. Even supermarkets were far less standardized than they are nowadays. 

This feels related to the GPS story. Most of the time, most of our lives today are lived in well known, well mapped-out spaces where we don't have to think or orient ourselves. And don't forget the familiar UI of the apps that have replaced so much physical retail. 

Circa 2007 while in high school, I went on a 3-4 day trip with my boyfriend and his family. It was over the weekend and my parents requested that I still go to church. My bf was a good guy and he printed out the directions to a church. It took us to a random empty lot. His parents thought we were at church so we did the most logical thing horny teens could do: we made out in his parents’ Expedition. Then went back to the resort, lol. What fun and harmless experiences like this are teens today missing out on?? That relationship ended but I have this story which is so much better than a sermon I would have forgotten about the next day.