News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on My experiment in phonelessness was a failure. It also changed my life. Parent comment

Re:My experiment in phonelessness was a failure. It also cha... by syntheticnature on Thursday February 08, 2024 @10:19AM (#39302912)
From my observations, people's innate ability to relate a map to the world varies. There are some studies attempting to tie this to gender, but my experience is that is not a hard line at all. I'm sure training is a component, of course, but some folks do not tie the abstraction to the real world well at all.

I seem to be good at it, but no one in my wife's family is, so during family get-togethers on that side I'm usually driving or navigating. The fact I can retrace a path I took two years prior from memory is an astonishing feat to them.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:My experiment in phonelessness was a failure. It also cha... by edgarvaldes on Thursday February 08, 2024 @11:48AM (#39304217)
When I'm inside the house (any house, but including my own), I often point to a direction when talking about a nearby place. People laugh and correct me because the place I'm talking about is to the north, not to the south as I point out with my finger. I can't go back to a place I was last week without asking for directions. I walk and turn the wrong corner in familiar environments, etc.

I love GPS now.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:My experiment in phonelessness was a failure. It also cha... by zikduruqe on Thursday February 08, 2024 @01:50PM (#39305897)
> I love GPS now.

The dependence of GPS has made people lose their spatial awareness.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62877-0

[ Parent | on HN ]