I would highly recommend an article in Sunday's New York Times, the
Review Section, page 12.
The article's title is "Is GPS all in our heads?" by J. Frankenstein,
a psychologist at the University of Freiburg, Germany.
The article suggests that before the advent of the GPS, we already
carried around "mental maps" in our heads that helped us navigate the
world around us. Further, the article suggests that perhaps the use
of the GPS instrument may actually be making us dumber.
Mahl

Op 6-2-2012 19:25, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Is GPS all in our heads?

You forgot to mention the link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/op...-our-head.html
--

Cheerio,
Rudolpho
Carpe diem

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:25:23 -0500, mwagner2 wrote:

> I would highly recommend an article in Sunday's New York Times, the
> Review Section, page 12.
> The article's title is "Is GPS all in our heads?" by J. Frankenstein,
> a psychologist at the University of Freiburg, Germany.
> The article suggests that before the advent of the GPS, we already
> carried around "mental maps" in our heads that helped us navigate the
> world around us. Further, the article suggests that perhaps the use
> of the GPS instrument may actually be making us dumber.

I hope he "discovered" a bit more than you reported. Or is this just some
research into the "bleedin' obvious"?

--
You cannot simply assume someone is honest
just because they are not an MP.

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:25:23 -0500, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Further, the article suggests that perhaps the use
>of the GPS instrument may actually be making us dumber.
>Mahl


Absolutely. My daughter is driving from Las Vegas to CT, a trip she
has made a half dozen times. I just got off the phone with her. While
she knows where the GPS says she is, she really has no clue how that
relates to anything. She wanted to know how far she has to go tonight
so she can make dinner at a stop in Philly tomorrow night.

On 2/6/2012 19:21, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:25:23 -0500, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>> Further, the article suggests that perhaps the use
>> of the GPS instrument may actually be making us dumber.
>> Mahl
>
>
> Absolutely. My daughter is driving from Las Vegas to CT, a trip she
> has made a half dozen times. I just got off the phone with her. While
> she knows where the GPS says she is, she really has no clue how that
> relates to anything. She wanted to know how far she has to go tonight
> so she can make dinner at a stop in Philly tomorrow night.

I think we learned a lot more about geography back in our day too. I'm
the class of 1960 for High School...

When I watch their faces go blank on simple tasks like conceptualizing
sizes and distances in fractions of a unit, converting decimals to and
from fractions, etc., etc., I just have wonder what the heck they are
teaching them. Maybe how to find a units converter on the Internet?

My units converter was my Dad (a machinist) and using it came with a
burden to learn enough at each use that I could be my own convert for
the next need. And he was not above sending me on quests for things
like 10/16" open end wrench...

Thanks, Pop! I know now that it was not a mean spirited as it seems.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jacker at midmaine dot com)
(also receiving email at jackerbes at roadrunner dot com)

On 02/07/2012 06:00 AM, Jack Erbes wrote:

> On 2/6/2012 19:21, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:25:23 -0500, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>
>>> Further, the article suggests that perhaps the use
>>> of the GPS instrument may actually be making us dumber.
>>
>> Absolutely. My daughter is driving from Las Vegas to CT, a trip she
>> has made a half dozen times. I just got off the phone with her. While
>> she knows where the GPS says she is, she really has no clue how that
>> relates to anything. She wanted to know how far she has to go tonight
>> so she can make dinner at a stop in Philly tomorrow night.
>
> I think we learned a lot more about geography back in our day too. I'm
> the class of 1960 for High School...

1958. Remember those nice blue maps we had to put labels on? I can't
believe those things were cheap. And we didn't have to do homework in
elementary school and the teachers tended to discourage parent
involvement. My daughter has less general knowledge than I do, and her
kids have even less. None of us is dumb, either.

Maybe it's different in private school. Whoever decided that government
employees could form unions should have been strung up by his, um, goolies.

> When I watch their faces go blank on simple tasks like conceptualizing
> sizes and distances in fractions of a unit, converting decimals to and
> from fractions, etc., etc., I just have wonder what the heck they are
> teaching them. Maybe how to find a units converter on the Internet?

That would at least be useful. Whatever they're teaching, the kids are
probably playing with their illegal cellphones instead of paying
attention. That might be an actual improvement if they weren't just
texting crap back and forth among themselves :-(

> My units converter was my Dad (a machinist) and using it came with a
> burden to learn enough at each use that I could be my own convert for
> the next need. And he was not above sending me on quests for things
> like 10/16" open end wrench...
>
> Thanks, Pop! I know now that it was not a mean spirited as it seems.

Very little difference between "mean spirited" and "realistic".

--
Cheers, Bev
================================================== ===============
"No matter how cynical I get, it's just never enough to keep up."
--Lily Tomlin

The Real Bev wrote:
> Very little difference between "mean spirited" and "realistic".

Oh, dear; have a happy 2012!

Mike.
--
If reply address is Mike@@mjcoon.+.com (invalid), remove spurious "@"
and substitute "plus" for +.

On 02/07/2012 12:21 PM, Mike Coon wrote:

> The Real Bev wrote:
>> Very little difference between "mean spirited" and "realistic".
>
> Oh, dear; have a happy 2012!

Thanks, you too!


--
Cheers, Bev
================================================== =============
I'd rather trust the guys in the lab coats who aren't demanding
that I get up early on Sundays to apologize for being human.
-- Captain Splendid

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:00:14 -0500, Jack Erbes <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On 2/6/2012 19:21, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>> On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:25:23 -0500, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>
>>> Further, the article suggests that perhaps the use
>>> of the GPS instrument may actually be making us dumber.
>>> Mahl
>>
>>
>> Absolutely. My daughter is driving from Las Vegas to CT, a trip she
>> has made a half dozen times. I just got off the phone with her. While
>> she knows where the GPS says she is, she really has no clue how that
>> relates to anything. She wanted to know how far she has to go tonight
>> so she can make dinner at a stop in Philly tomorrow night.
>
> I think we learned a lot more about geography back in our day too. I'm
> the class of 1960 for High School...
>
> When I watch their faces go blank on simple tasks like conceptualizing
> sizes and distances in fractions of a unit, converting decimals to and
> from fractions, etc., etc., I just have wonder what the heck they are
> teaching them. Maybe how to find a units converter on the Internet?
>
> My units converter was my Dad (a machinist) and using it came with a
> burden to learn enough at each use that I could be my own convert for
> the next need. And he was not above sending me on quests for things
> like 10/16" open end wrench...
>
> Thanks, Pop! I know now that it was not a mean spirited as it seems.
>
> Jack

Right on. If the sun is visible, I can usually find my way.
On another note, if one has worked celestial navigation, you can
appreciate what the little gadgets can do.
MR