Q:I drove with my teenage son to an event in Wisconsin and realized that he relies on GPS to drive. When we turned that off and I showed him a map, he had a hard time following it. Is there any drawback to relying on GPS exclusively? - Daniel S., Roseville
A:It may be that I'm middle-aged, or a Luddite, or both, but I don't use GPS. I also perform the initial calculations for my taxes by longhand (though I still plug the figures into tax accounting software once tallied). Part of this is a "use it or lose it" mentality. My father could multiply multi-digit numbers in his head and I was always impressed by that ability so I try to keep that part of my brain active. Seeing how many people can't calculate an appropriate tip at a restaurant or add up Scrabble scores quickly also makes me think we are losing some useful basic skills by always letting a machine do the work.
Still, GPS is cool and helpful, another of the amenities the digital and satellite ages have bestowed on us. Under the time pressures of our 21st-Century lives, getting lost is an annoyance we can seldom afford. In the vast majority of cases, a good GPS unit can alleviate that concern, making our lives easier and alleviating an unneeded source of stress finding far-flung addresses.
Occasionally, a news report will mention a GPS-guided driver who turns onto railroad tracks instead of a road, with poor results. Hopefully, most drivers do not become so obedient to the device that they abandon common sense or ignore their own eyes. No doubt GPS companies and their devices will continue to reduce error rates.
Your question is not so much about the technology's usefulness and accuracy, but the reliance. Does dependence on the device make our lives simple when it functions properly, but scary when it doesn't? Cell phones are extremely convenient, yet a side effect of their memory and speed dialing is that many of us no longer know other people's phone numbers, even close friends and family members. With cell phone in hand, we can call our contacts from most places on earth; lose it, however, and we suddenly can't make the call even if someone hands us another phone.
There's interesting research being done - e.g., in Canada and California - on the effects of GPS on our direction-finding abilities. Some researchers suggest that our ability to figure out our surroundings and create a mental map of them without GPS may decline when we rely on the technology. There is also evidence that we move through the world differently - pay less attention to surroundings - when we are led around by a machine. As a person who enjoys exploring roads, for no real purpose other than to look at the scenery, I wonder whether interest in this simple pleasure declines when much of our travel is gadget guided. Another idea to ponder is whether ubiquitous mapping creates the false sense that we know more about the world than we really do. Knowing the coordinates or how to get to a particular spot hardly uncovers its mysteries.
Research also seems to show - especially compared to other animals - that the average human does not have particularly good navigational skills. That being the case, why not take advantage of technology that makes finding our way, at least geographically, very simple?
I'd teach your son to read a road map, if he's willing, and maybe a topographic map, too, of say, a favorite park. In return, have him show you how that GPS he relies on makes getting around so simple.
