"Ditch the GPS. It's ruining your brain."

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Interesting article.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ditch-the-gps-its-ruining-your-brain/2019/06/05/29a3170e-87af-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab&utm_term=.a677ef23090a

[Diploman]

This article makes a very good point.  In a similar vein, I try to avoid using my smartphone calculator to do basic arithmetic functions, preferring to do them in my head simply to keep my brain exercised.  Although a cliche, this maxim is valid and applies to more than sex: "Use it or lose it".

[PJPR01]

This article makes a very good point.  In a similar vein, I try to avoid using my smartphone calculator to do basic arithmetic functions, preferring to do them in my head simply to keep my brain exercised.  Although a cliche, this maxim is valid and applies to more than sex: "Use it or lose it".

Fully agree on the mental math...keeps the brain sharp.

I always get a chuckle out of some of the headlines I've seen in the past:

A majority of teenagers not good with math, says study citing 4 out of 10 teenagers kids can't do basic algebra.  Just enjoy the smoke coming out of their ears when you give them 5.05 for a 4.05 latte at Starbucks and watch the confusion on their face!!

And my all time favorite:  There are 3 kinds of people in this world...those good at math, and those not good at math!

 

[bigbikerrick]

Very interesting read, Charlie. I have a goldwing riding neighbor friend that is so dependent on his GPS, that when it went out on him in the middle of Phoenix, he freaked out and , pulled over, then called his wife at home 225 miles away, so she could "navigate" for him over the phone/bluetooth! 
I just forwarded the link to this article to my friend "Jim". Im sure he will get a kick out of it.
Rick.

[twowheeladdict]

I use my GPS in the map mode much more than the navigation mode.  I can read upcoming streets a lot easier and safer on the GPS than waiting until I can actually read the street sign. 

Of course I can take a ride and then go home and retrace my steps on google maps which amazes some people.  It is hard for me to find "new" roads, whereas for my wife they are new every time.  :)

[oldbike54]

 Woolaroc can't be located using GPS 

 I still prefer the "ask a local" method of navigation , of course more and more that ends with a local pulling out their smart phone , because they literally can't find their way across town sans GPS 

 Dusty

[nick949]

If you use the 'avoid highways' and accept unpaved roads, a gps can lead to all sorts of unexpected adventures.

N

[LowRyter]

I can still do basic math including long division but can't do a square root.   

[Roebling3]

Thank you for that Link, Charlie. The enemy must be acknowledged. I started my downhill run early this year. It's not at all pleasant.
Never used much more than dead reckoning and occasional hard copies while travelling all over the US and much of Europe by car, motorcycle and truck.
8.37Million miles, not counting MC miles. 65 years were enough. When I retired 4 years ago. I stay rather busy, but I'm losing the ability to do simple math, spell and navigate. I'm second guessing myself all the time. Worst feeling is forgetting the names of long time friends'. My often overly long stories are breaking up, details and 'that wrench was in my hand a split second ago'. Never had a cell phone or GPS. Years ago I tried to convince a colleague not use his GPS all the time. i.e. local trips hundreds of times? Never far from home? WT*!

So far perception/judgment seems not affected. I wanted to be just like Freddie Marsh. Ride something on two wheels 'til at least 101. Not gonna happen.  R3~

[Lannis]

If you use the 'avoid highways' and accept unpaved roads, a gps can lead to all sorts of unexpected adventures.

N

If you use it as a sort of "toy", or as an auxiliary to actually finding your way around, I'm sure they can be fun.

But I've met too many people like the Gold Wing guy mentioned above, for whom they are like thumb-sucking, or a teddy bear; they get to where they can't live without them because they've turned into little wussies and let technology run their lives.  And I mean guys who used to be secure, self-confident men; they just melt without their phone/GPS.   It's like watching a friend who's become a quivering heroin addict and saying "He probably didn't think this would happen to him; damned if I'M going down that road just because it 'seems' OK".

Fay and I did 7500 miles all over the USA last fall with just a Rand-McNally road atlas.   You can get just as lost and have just as many adventures that way as with a GPS set to take the "back roads" .... trust me!

Lannis

[twowheeladdict]

If you use the 'avoid highways' and accept unpaved roads, a gps can lead to all sorts of unexpected adventures.

N

Especially if you just pick a spot on the map as opposed to a town or address.     I do that when I am on the Himalayan.

[brider]

The GPS is definitely a useful tool and I use it when necessary, but like Lannis, prefer to go "old school" when I can. Mostly i'm scrambling against the clock to hustle a kid or kids to a hockey game in an obscure ice rink somewhere off the Jersey Turnpike, so in those cases a GPS is a LIFESAVER. But in many cases, like if I'm investigating a tractor or old Guzzi somewhere, I'll draw a map by hand on an 8 x 11 sht of paper, with pertinent info, and use that, especially on the tankbag on my Cal 2. CAN'T STAND fumbling with my glasses to see a GPS clearly, whether in a car or on the bike.

One of my boy's hockey teammate's dad and I are great friends, and we often carpool to games. When he drives, he follows the GPS without question, even when we've been to a particular rink several times, and even when I point out a better way (the GPS route is NOT always the "best"). He always defaults to "Well, the GPS says to turn here...". Many times I've sat in silence gnashing my teeth as we sit in traffic.

I view blind reliance on the GPS and a major dumbing-down and knuckling under that diminishes your ability to make decisions on your own. Please don't become like Rick's Goldwing buddy.

[PJPR01]

Woolaroc can't be located using GPS 

 I still prefer the "ask a local" method of navigation , of course more and more that ends with a local pulling out their smart phone , because they literally can't find their way across town sans GPS 

 Dusty

I'm never going to live that down!  It's goes into the history file for Cedar Vale.  My only defense is the back entrance USED to be open, but apparently the TomTom software hadn't been updated.  But the side benefit was we got to ride a bit more, and Prescott's V7 never failed until we got to Woolaroc...so perhaps we should have kept riding and never arrived! 

:)

[zedXmick]

I was an OTR trucker from 1980-1983  been all over the USA using atlas and state maps and city maps....GPS is a GOD send! Best modern day invention bar none.  Yup delivered 80,000 pound loads into LA and NYC with paper maps...you can bet your ASS that GPS beats that all to hell.  Surprised you guys accept the little start button on the right twist grip. I used to kick start my motorcycle back in the day also, wouldn’t want to go back to that either.

[n3303j]

Interesting article.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ditch-the-gps-its-ruining-your-brain/2019/06/05/29a3170e-87af-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab&utm_term=.a677ef23090a

Link comes up and wants me to pay to read the article.

[Noguzznoglory]

Have hired young delivery drivers that can’t go anywhere except by following the nav app instructions. If they lose signal or battery they are completely lost.

[80CX100]

     I'm an old fashioned paper map guy, still have a collection of over 100+ topographical maps from my whitewater wilderness canoeing days, I like the security blanket of having "real" data or information on a hard copy map on my tank bag for reference.

     I haven't made the jump yet, but where I can see the benefit of GPS is being in a new confusing area and having the info readily at hand to get me to where I want to go, without having to stop or being distracted trying to read a map at speed (dangerous & impossible for my eyes).

     There is one particular area that I ride in, where there are a bunch of secondary rural roads all coming together from different directions, below Plevna/McDonald's Corners area Highways # 12, # 36, # 509, #506? etc; I've gotten twisted around in that area more times than I can count, I was never lost, I just didn't know where the hell I was,lol. But I always ended up on great riding roads and learned lots about the riding in that area.

      Like so many things in life, some of these devices can be great tools, but they are killing our ability to venture out armed only with our wits and  sense of adventure and the feeling of accomplishment when you make it home in one piece, jmho

      Kelly

[Chuck in Indiana]

There's a place in your brain that stores places and faces. Mine took a really big hit when I was a kid. I don't recognize faces unless I've seen them often, and still won't if I see them in a place that I don't expect. Sorry if I don't remember you, it's not because I don't care.  I'd make a very poor salesman or politician..and *don't* ask me to describe that bank robber. 
That said, I will be going to somewhere I have been many times, and occasionally not remember whether to turn right or left to get there. <shrug> Instead of "falling" dreams,  I have "lost" dreams.
Needless to say, I was an early adopter of GPS. Without it, I'd still probably be on the interstates of SoCal trying to find Redondo Beach when I first rode the 1000 SP out there all those years ago.
Also, programs like Waze will route you around traffic jams, tell you where the po leece are lurking, etc.    For me, it is a *great* tool.
That said, I used to be a great speller. Not any more, the computer makes it so easy to get close and let the auto fill complete the word.
Like any crutch, the more you use it, the more you depend on it..

[lazlokovacs]

yeah,

I never use GPS...

Means I actually learn the route for next time

More and more often when I stop to ask locals or other bikers/drivers for directions, they all seem to pull out their phones and look totally bewildered.

The most confusing question of all seems to be something like 'am I heading north on this road?'

It's more pronounced in the states than in europe, but we're catching up quick.

[elvisboy77]

Fully agree on the mental math...keeps the brain sharp.

I always get a chuckle out of some of the headlines I've seen in the past:

A majority of teenagers not good with math, says study citing 4 out of 10 teenagers kids can't do basic algebra.  Just enjoy the smoke coming out of their ears when you give them 5.05 for a 4.05 latte at Starbucks and watch the confusion on their face!!

And my all time favorite:  There are 3 kinds of people in this world...those good at math, and those not good at math!

 

"A majority" is not 4 out of 10.  I guess statistics is dead, too- lol!

[SmithSwede]

There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary, and those that don’t. 

[n3303j]

Pilot work load; always looking for ways to reduce it. Coupled GPS with Bluetooth headset when I spent a week in DC. Sure was nice to spend 100% of my time watching traffic with no worry about navigation.

[canuck750]

I never had a GPS until last week and I like to think I have ridden my fair bit just fine without. My wife and I are flying our BMW 1600 to Europe in late August for a two month exploring ride of former Eastern Europe. We decided adding the BMW / Garmin Nav to the dash panel would help us find our way around. I was able to get the NAV five for $640 CDN and then add all of Europe maps for about $120. I keep my BMW and a KLR in Phoenix and need to get the beemer back to Canada for August to prep her for the belly of the plane. My older son and I left Phoenix last Sunday riding to the Grand Canyon, then Las Vegas, Yosemite, two nights in San Francisco and now working our way up the Oregon coast before turning north east for Canada and home through the Rockies. Having that GPS was sure great for getting some through Oakland and San Francisco. I think it will be a big + for Europe.

PS. BMW of San Francisco were excellent, changed out a worn tire with no notice in a morning, there are a lot of great people out there! :

[Sheepdog]

It's all in how one uses a tool. Discriminate...and maybe expand your horizons a little. It doesn't discredit the old ways...it expands them.

[Wayne Orwig]

I use a GPS a lot now, just to get home, from places that I know a dozen ways to get home from. But the reason is that I'm using Waze to identify traffic jams. There is currently no road near me that does not has some major traffic and construction. Toss in a couple of roads (bridges) that are completely blocked, and Waze has saved me a lot of hours.

Aside from the construction headaches, I use a GPS mainly as a moving map. I have ridden with people often that study a paper map for hours before a trip. Yet in the end, they realize that I found some more interesting roads then they would have ever been on by just looking at a paper map. When riding, I seldom let the box do the A to B, just a good map on the screen is all.

Using the GPS when in the RV helps a lot. Knowing what lane you need to be in long before a highway splits is a good thing.

But then, I have seen people use a GPS, and still not know north from east, or even what state they are in at the time. Everybody's brain works differently.

[RinkRat II]

           

There are 3 kinds of people in this world...those good at math, and those not good at math!

        Hey now, That's not funny. I'm in the third half of that group!
       
         Paul B

[giusto]

I use my GPS in the map mode much more than the navigation mode.  I can read upcoming streets a lot easier and safer on the GPS than waiting until I can actually read the street sign. 

Of course I can take a ride and then go home and retrace my steps on google maps which amazes some people.  It is hard for me to find "new" roads, whereas for my wife they are new every time.  :)

I really like this benefit of the GPS when searching for road names without worrying about someone running up behind me...That said I started out in Geographic Planning at School and had several Cartography classes....lol OMG has the world changed since stereo plotters and pinning together sets of aerial photos to make maps!
I love maps and have held on  to every one I've used...cracks me up that some cartographers can have a sense of humor and place made up names such as Goblue and Beatosu just south of the Michigan border....everythin g you see on an old printed map may not actually be there lol

I have great respect for the early surveyors that mapped the US...if you are interested and have time the next time you are at your county seat stop in the register of deeds and look up the original local survey books....you can typically find notes that include how the crews managed to be out for months at a time...with shopping list including salt pork, beef, and grains to keep the men well fed...and typically ending each day with a Polaris reference shot to aid in their next days survey!  Cool stuff

[Guzzistajohn]

I use my garmin when I travel for work all week, it’s great for finding specific addresses and knowing exactly when you’ll arrive at a destination for an appointment, never had an appointment at willowroc however. But on weekends and or on a motorcycle ride, it’s kind of a buzzkill for me. Last thing I want to do is gawk at another damn screen. I like a map.

[Guzzistajohn]

Someone has to say “dead reconing” eventually 🤔

[SmithSwede]

I'm surprised nobody has used the word "sextant."