Are GPSs making people dumber? Do paper maps promote thinking, and a sense of direction?
In a lot of cases, yes. Because people have the GPS devices to tell them the directions, they are not learning their way to various places that are in their neighborhoods or cities. Most people have no concept of direction any more either. I’d bet if you asked 20 people which way was north; 80% of them would have no clue. And I don’t think GPS is all it’s cracked up to be. But then you need to keep them updated and a lot of people don’t do that either. I think they’re good for a trip to a strange city or area but one really should learn the local geography and land marks and not rely on GPS. Paper maps have their issues too but they at least forced you to think. Paper maps are usually outdated by the time they are printed and don’t show a lot of information that a GPS unit will give you. I think what worries me the most is that many, many people have no thinking skills anymore but rely on computers, GPS units and the internet for so much. What would happen if all that went away because
