Do you use your own internal compass to get from place to place?
Or do you depend on a smartphone map? When you go somewhere new in your city or town, how do you get there?
Can you guess where something is based on the address or cross streets alone? If someone were to reference a local landmark, such as mountains, the ocean or a distinctive building, would that help to situate you? Or do you primarily depend on your smartphone map to get yourself places? How good is your sense of direction? Do you often use your own internal compass to get from place to place? Or do you depend on a smartphone map? What kind of environment have you grown up in? Do you live in a gridlike city? Or do you live in place that is laid out less predictably, such as a rural area or an older and more winding metropolis? Are there particular landmarks where you live that you rely on to help you know where you are? What are they and how do you use them? When you go someplace new, do you feel lost without them?
The study described in the article found that “people who grow up in predictable, gridlike cities like Chicago or New York seem to struggle to navigate as easily as those who come from more rural areas or more intricate cities.” Is this true to your experience? How do your navigational abilities fare when you travel someplace outside of your hometown?
In your opinion, how much does having a good sense of direction matter in the age of smartphones? The article mentions that it can have a positive influence on one’s cognitive abilities later on in life. What do you think might happen if you were to try to navigate without a smartphone? What would be the benefits? The drawbacks? Do you have an excellent sense of direction/spatial awareness
I’m fairly sure I have strong aphantasia. However, I also have a really good sense of direction. I never get lost. I can more or less memorise the layouts of the places I visit, or I can navigate city’s intuitively. It’s basically GPS, but I obviously can’t visually see a map. Wondering if there’s anyone else out there like this? I have a hard time orienting myself on a map. For example, if I'm on a trail and I come to a fork, if the orientation of the map has north to the top, but on the trail I am facing southwest, it's really hard for me to orient myself to the map. Or, if I follow directions in to a neighborhood (turn left, take the second right, then the first left) it's virtually impossible for me to get out of that neighborhood without making at least one mistake.
I would love to have some practical advice on how to eliminate the above cliches and several other examples I could provide from my life. Do you have any practical tips or suggestions that help a person with a poor natural sense of direction to develop the skill of orientation?
Can you guess where something is based on the address or cross streets alone? If someone were to reference a local landmark, such as mountains, the ocean or a distinctive building, would that help to situate you? Or do you primarily depend on your smartphone map to get yourself places? How good is your sense of direction? Do you often use your own internal compass to get from place to place? Or do you depend on a smartphone map? What kind of environment have you grown up in? Do you live in a gridlike city? Or do you live in place that is laid out less predictably, such as a rural area or an older and more winding metropolis? Are there particular landmarks where you live that you rely on to help you know where you are? What are they and how do you use them? When you go someplace new, do you feel lost without them?
The study described in the article found that “people who grow up in predictable, gridlike cities like Chicago or New York seem to struggle to navigate as easily as those who come from more rural areas or more intricate cities.” Is this true to your experience? How do your navigational abilities fare when you travel someplace outside of your hometown?
In your opinion, how much does having a good sense of direction matter in the age of smartphones? The article mentions that it can have a positive influence on one’s cognitive abilities later on in life. What do you think might happen if you were to try to navigate without a smartphone? What would be the benefits? The drawbacks? Do you have an excellent sense of direction/spatial awareness
I’m fairly sure I have strong aphantasia. However, I also have a really good sense of direction. I never get lost. I can more or less memorise the layouts of the places I visit, or I can navigate city’s intuitively. It’s basically GPS, but I obviously can’t visually see a map. Wondering if there’s anyone else out there like this? I have a hard time orienting myself on a map. For example, if I'm on a trail and I come to a fork, if the orientation of the map has north to the top, but on the trail I am facing southwest, it's really hard for me to orient myself to the map. Or, if I follow directions in to a neighborhood (turn left, take the second right, then the first left) it's virtually impossible for me to get out of that neighborhood without making at least one mistake.
I would love to have some practical advice on how to eliminate the above cliches and several other examples I could provide from my life. Do you have any practical tips or suggestions that help a person with a poor natural sense of direction to develop the skill of orientation?
