![]() A Japanese project in 2008 that compared three navigational methods-GPS, paper maps, and direct experience (a guide led subjects through a route and then asked them to repeat it)-found that the GPS group lagged behind the others. Again, we have anecdotal evidence-ask a Baby Boomer or Gen-X-er about millennials’ lack of map-reading skills, and you’ll get an earful-along with empirical data. It’s probably been a long time since you unfolded that paper map. ![]() But a clue to this process may be sitting in your glove compartment, gathering dust. It will be a long time-if ever-before scientists are able to reach this conclusion. At least one of the neuroscientists involved in the study has speculated that prolonged GPS use could have a similar effect. Preliminary research also suggested that the volume of grey matter decreases when these drivers retire. In 2006, a British study made headlines by announcing that London taxi drivers, whose jobs require them to integrate a vast body of knowledge, have above-average amounts of grey matter in the region of the brain responsible for complex spatial representation. It may even turn out that our GPS addiction can have actual physiological consequences. Pinpoint: How G P S Is Changing Technology, Culture, And Our Minds Greg Milner, Raven Steals The LightWilliam Reid, Parent Power: Godly Influence In An Age Of WeaknessDavid R. ![]()
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