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Mice, hamsters, geese, and toads display impressive skill in finding their way to their food or shelter. Even when they are blindfolded and sent through winding paths they can easily get back home. The same can’t be said for humans. In similar tests, we don’t do as well as other animals. In a recent conference held by the Vision Science Society, researchers from Brown University and the University of California Santa Barbara displayed evidence that people don’t assess direction and distance traveled as well as other animals do.
“[The findings]…suggest that human cognitive maps pay little heed to geometric realities. Instead, we remember webs of landmarks such as the store, our office, the church where we turn left on our way home, yet have little sense of how these fit together spatially.”
Source: “Why human’s can’t navigate out of a paper bag” by Chris Berdik, NewScientist.com
It might be unfair to compare ourselves with other species since many animals are equipped with senses that are meant to “compute” distance and direction with accuracy. Still, it doesn’t mean that we’re at a disadvantage.
“It could be that we lost this ability at some point in our evolution, sacrificing the kind of precision that other animals enjoy in return for cognitive flexibility, which allows us to make sense of our surroundings and find our way using reasoning and experience rather than geometry.”
Source: “Why human’s can’t navigate out of a paper bag” by Chris Berdik, NewScientist.com
In other words, unlike most animals, we don’t just rely on what specialized senses tell us. We have the ability to interpret and truly understand cues from our surroundings which eventually lead us to where we want to go. While it may not be as accurate as the innate abilities of other animals, it does open us up to more flexible experiences and a better understanding of the land – but only if we attempt to do so. In a world with GPS navigation and Google Maps, those of us who live in industrial areas rarely get the chance to learn this skill for ourselves. It never hurts to try, though.
How about you? How accurate is your sense of direction without the use of maps and other navigational tools?
@Backpack Foodie & Kim:...
August 20th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Fascinating article. Many people rely on landmarks such as turn left, you’ll see a McDonald’s on the corner
I (Rebecca) would like to think that I developed a pretty good sense of direction by moving to AZ. You can’t rely too much on Yahoo! or Google Maps to direct you somewhere. I invested in a GPS because I was tired of getting lost. However, my little escapades through the East Valley, Northeast Valley, and Phoenix are paying off because I remember the areas. GPS is sometimes off, but it’s not as bad as Google Maps or Yahoo!
August 20th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Hi Celine,
Fascinating post. I love to understand the science behind the innate skills some may possess and others lack. In our house, I seem to have been born with a great sense of direction and rarely need a map to get around a new city/area. I cannot explain it beyond a genetic “gift” since my father was also excellent with directions. When I land in a new place I quickly identify what is due north and venture out towards my goal, but I cannot explain why.
Unfortunately, this has created a slight tension at home as my wife (who is gifted in far more ways than me) lacks the ability to quickly get oriented in her surroundings. But, as I always tell her, the gift of being good with directions is far less financially rewarding than the gift of prose she possesses.
Great post and thank you for the thought exercise today!
Warren
August 21st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Sometimes getting lost is half the fun! Discovering new places you might have missed otherwise.
I’ve been living on the road about four years now. At first was fanatic about mapping everything out. Realizing over the years it took too much time away from JUST BEING THERE.
Mind you, I am tech savvy. Yes, I can read road maps and topo maps. But the more aware I am in the moment- means I’ll remember the place for what it is. Rather than just some place I passed though. Years later, moving down the same road I’ve found myself, actually pull over at a lot of the same places not planning to!
Maps and GPS are resources but listen to your inner pigeon! cause that you’ll always have with you.
August 29th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I read about a really interesting experiment where a guy wore a special belt around his waist that always made him aware of which direction was North (i.e. by a continuous buzzing at the appropriate point on the belt’s circumference as he moved – I think that was the mechanism).
But he reported an astonishing thing after many weeks unbroken living with this artificial “sixth sense” of direction: he had an absolutely uncanny sense of direction and position and virtually couldn’t get lost.
Fascinating!
Francis @ http://www.memorista.com – foreign vocabulary with mnemonics