Your phone & GPS device are making you doolally!

[Cugel]

Here's an interesting article (Groanydad one, mind) concerning the deleterious effects of habitual use of the blasted stare&prattle gizmos, so popular amongst once-sensible folk who succumbed to the advert, fashion pressures and our all-too-human inclination to employ lazy mental shortcuts:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022 ... l-amenesia

The passages of the article concerning use of GPS struck a chord with my own observations of handlebar and dashboard-mounted gizmo-use by the disoriented to "navigate".

“We can predict that prolonged use of GPS likely will reduce grey matter density in the hippocampus. Reduced grey matter density in this brain area goes along with a variety of symptoms, such as increased risk for depression and other psychopathologies, but also certain forms of dementia. GPS-based navigational systems don’t require you to form a complex geographic map. [Obeying GPS instructions] do not engage the hippocampus very much, unlike those spatial strategies that require the knowledge of a geographic map, in which you can locate any point, coming from any direction and which requires [cognitively] complex computations. When exploring the spatial capacities of people who have been using GPS for a very long time, they show impairments in spatial memory abilities that require the hippocampus. Map reading is hard and that’s why we give it away to devices so easily. But hard things are good for you, because they engage cognitive processes and brain structures that have other effects on your general cognitive functioning.”

I've been on group bike rides during which some dafty with a GPS insisted that, "We go this way because my smart(ha ha)phone says so", when I knew with the certainty of having done the route endless times before that we should go another way. The GPS dafties are hard to dissuade, though. Their gizmo has become the ultimate authority in their life, largely through supplanting their ability to think about something for themselves.

It seems it might also be degrading their thinker itself, to a condition in which it becomes dysfunctional. Soon they will be babbling on a perch in some expensive gimmery, as Brutus the male "nurse" readies his chemical cosh!

Cugel, still reliant on orienteering skills and the memory of a map.

[Audax67]

My hippo left the campus a long time ago.

[bikes4two]

Dear Curmudgeonly,
I had to laugh at your post - I hope your gas lamps are nicely trimmed - no, seriously, like many devices of the modern age, their use can be excessive to the detriment of practicing 'old skills' (but who would bemoan the lose of twin-tub washers over modern washing machines, or the spiral ratchet screwdriver vs cordless ones?).

Whilst out on a local ride recently on roads not previously visited, we came upon a cross roads. The sun was in front of use (around 1100hrs) and I knew that we needed to head in an easterly direction, i.e. turn left, but my companion insisted on powering up his OS Maps app to check - durgh!

Having said that, some years ago two of us were cycling through the wilds of Portugal where even today many of the smaller roads are not well mapped on paper, but they are pretty good in the world of digital Open Source mapping (where it is easier and quicker to get map updates done).

If it were not for my bike GPS (actually a cheap Chinese Android phone rather than one of those Garmin thingies) and the Open Source maps, I'm pretty sure I'd still be wondering the wilderness.

Each to their own I say

[Jdsk]

Here's an interesting article (Groanydad one, mind) concerning the deleterious effects of habitual use of the blasted stare&prattle gizmos, so popular amongst once-sensible folk who succumbed to the advert, fashion pressures and our all-too-human inclination to employ lazy mental shortcuts:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022 ... l-amenesia

It does "concern" that subject, in the sense that speculative extrapolation "concerns" anything.

As it says:

"Hardt doesn’t have data yet, but believes... "

Jonathan

PS: Here's the genuine study that showed "Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers":
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC18253/
and here's the current state of knowledge:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocamp ... navigation

[Cugel]

Here's an interesting article (Groanydad one, mind) concerning the deleterious effects of habitual use of the blasted stare&prattle gizmos, so popular amongst once-sensible folk who succumbed to the advert, fashion pressures and our all-too-human inclination to employ lazy mental shortcuts:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022 ... l-amenesia

It does "concern" that subject, in the sense that speculative extrapolation "concerns" anything.

As it says:

"Hardt doesn’t have data yet, but believes... "

Jonathan

PS: Here's the genuine study that showed "Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers":
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC18253/
and here's the current state of knowledge:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocamp ... navigation

Here, here! I want to use my already-formed prejudices agin' the stare&prattle things, along with a nice albeit simplified newspap article, to mock the gizmoidos. Your pointing to that other reading will only mean I have to think harder about the matter, which is not the modern fashion at all!

Cugel, nipping down my own mental shortcut.

[freeflow]

And, of course, there are reports that playing dynamic 3d shooters is good for improving cognitive abilities and coordination.

[ANTONISH]

Well Cugel times move on.
I can remember in primary school being rebuked for wasting my time listening to trash like "Dick Barton" on the radio.
Not to mention the horrors awaiting me when my father purchased one of those new fangled televisual things - massive screen 9" measured diagonally.
A few years later when I was touring with a friend in France we had to find accommodation every night - usually a youth hostel sometimes a rustic hotel. Occasionally we were unlucky and had to sleep rough.
Pre-booking meant writing letters to places I wasn't sure I would visit.
Then we had Fax - so it was possible to book at fairly short notice - then internet which was ok for chain hotels but Logis - de France needed an application for a certain date which one would find out day's later was available - or not.
In 2018 my son insisted that I should have a "smart phone".
This proved something of a revelation as I could use it to book a hotel for a couple of hours hence - also it would provide me with information such as live departure boards for trains and I could use it to buy tickets.
It also has "Google maps" which are updated in real time - this is very useful at times e.g We were in a Belgian town (in a car) - we knew the town and we knew where the Hotel we had booked was but there was a local festival and many of the roads were closed off - after a couple of abortive attempts we reverted to Google maps and a nice lady kindly gave us turn by turn instructions to the hotel.
And of course I still know how to use a paper map - northings, eastings etc.
If there is a better mouse trap available - use it.

[Jdsk]

And, of course, there are reports that playing dynamic 3d shooters is good for improving cognitive abilities and coordination.

And computer games seem to help socialisation of some, possibly boys more than girls.

Jonathan

[pete75]

Are Cugel and Jacob Rees-Mogg one and the same? I think we should be told.

[thirdcrank]

In common with quite a few others on here, I'm from the mental arithmetic generation who learnt "times tables" by heart as well as rods/poles/perches, chains and furlongs. The calculator and decimalisation saved our successors from that drudgery. Perhaps the issue is whether we use that freedom to push further. On the specific issue of GPS, I don't think humans have much innate navigating capability - unlike migratory species - so if we travel further than the end of the street we are depending on the geography of others. While map reading with a compass may be a fine mental exercise, it's obsolete for most people.

I do believe that the normally instant communication available through mobile phones has reduced the need to plan. IF → THEN has been replaced by ringing up for a discussion.

[jb]

I'd guess a good proportion of folk never know how to use 70% of their GPS, but then a good proportion of folk never learnt to read a map either.

[Cugel]

Are Cugel and Jacob Rees-Mogg one and the same? I think we should be told.

Naughty, that comment! I should feel insulted .... but can't be bothered.

Still, I realise that gizmo addicts of every ilk & tittle will be feeling rather bruised i' their wee egos at the idea that their favourite new toy is making them dafter than they already are. Perhaps I can slow the mental rot? Here are antidotes to some of the worserer effects of gizmo-gazing and obeisance:

1) Never obey that sat nav order without a bit of a check via consideration of the reality you're actually in. One reads of some terrible fates as dafties blindly obey the gizmo-orders, ending up (or even down) in all sorts of trouble.

2) Try to apply the rule, "Everything you read on a gizmo screen is not necessarily any kind of troof". If you're not careful, you may find yourself not only watching a Tory PM candidate vid but believing the ludicrous claims made therein! And it may even make you vote Tory!! Your brain is then beyond redemption or recovery.

When gizmo-gazing and finger-fondling, try not to walk too fast, as those lampposts can give you a nasty concuss. When I'm dictator, all gizmo-addicts will be made to wear not just a helmet but also full body armour. Yes, they will.

Cugel Ludd.

PS I can sell you a handy lump hammer for a good price, which will end your gizmo victimhood with one quick blow. Only £199.99. (Post & packing £53.72).

[Cugel]

In common with quite a few others on here, I'm from the mental arithmetic generation who learnt "times tables" by heart as well as rods/poles/perches, chains and furlongs. The calculator and decimalisation saved our successors from that drudgery. Perhaps the issue is whether we use that freedom to push further. On the specific issue of GPS, I don't think humans have much innate navigating capability - unlike migratory species - so if we travel further than the end of the street we are depending on the geography of others. While map reading with a compass may be a fine mental exercise, it's obsolete for most people.

I do believe that the normally instant communication available through mobile phones has reduced the need to plan. IF → THEN has been replaced by ringing up for a discussion.

Yes! Why use a redundant brain when Gizmo will steer you about and decide all those difficult matters for you? Thinkin' is for pilgrims.

Cugel, still with a head full of the 12X table.

[pwa]

Here's an interesting article (Groanydad one, mind) concerning the deleterious effects of habitual use of the blasted stare&prattle gizmos, so popular amongst once-sensible folk who succumbed to the advert, fashion pressures and our all-too-human inclination to employ lazy mental shortcuts:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022 ... l-amenesia

The passages of the article concerning use of GPS struck a chord with my own observations of handlebar and dashboard-mounted gizmo-use by the disoriented to "navigate".

“We can predict that prolonged use of GPS likely will reduce grey matter density in the hippocampus. Reduced grey matter density in this brain area goes along with a variety of symptoms, such as increased risk for depression and other psychopathologies, but also certain forms of dementia. GPS-based navigational systems don’t require you to form a complex geographic map. [Obeying GPS instructions] do not engage the hippocampus very much, unlike those spatial strategies that require the knowledge of a geographic map, in which you can locate any point, coming from any direction and which requires [cognitively] complex computations. When exploring the spatial capacities of people who have been using GPS for a very long time, they show impairments in spatial memory abilities that require the hippocampus. Map reading is hard and that’s why we give it away to devices so easily. But hard things are good for you, because they engage cognitive processes and brain structures that have other effects on your general cognitive functioning.”

I've been on group bike rides during which some dafty with a GPS insisted that, "We go this way because my smart(ha ha)phone says so", when I knew with the certainty of having done the route endless times before that we should go another way. The GPS dafties are hard to dissuade, though. Their gizmo has become the ultimate authority in their life, largely through supplanting their ability to think about something for themselves.

It seems it might also be degrading their thinker itself, to a condition in which it becomes dysfunctional. Soon they will be babbling on a perch in some expensive gimmery, as Brutus the male "nurse" readies his chemical cosh!

Cugel, still reliant on orienteering skills and the memory of a map.

The trick with a satnav /GPs is to know when to disregard something it suggests. Treat it as advisory only, and all will be well.

[pwa]

Are Cugel and Jacob Rees-Mogg one and the same? I think we should be told.

Navigating by sextant?

I think the question he raises is a good one though. We may be losing some mental dexterity by relying on devices that take the drudge out of calculations, navigation, etc.