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#257624 - 03/15/13 09:31 PM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: jshannon]
ILBob Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 02/05/10
Posts: 776
Loc: Northern IL
I read the story the SAR guy wrote about the incident with the German tourists.

It was quite an interesting story.
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#257668 - 03/17/13 02:53 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: jshannon]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
These same reason apply to losing your car at the mall...

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#257671 - 03/17/13 04:09 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: TeacherRO]
Hikin_Jim Offline
Sheriff
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 10/12/07
Posts: 1804
Loc: Southern California
Quote:
the sense of direction may also wither with disuse. Small studies have found that using a GPS for just a few hours seems to impair people's navigational skills in the short term
All the more reason to practice map and compass skills.

HJ
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#257677 - 03/17/13 10:05 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: Pete]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted By: Pete
there are probably a lot of reasons. But i'll give you one good one. Very FEW people actually stop and look backwards.

Let's suppose you are hiking down a trail in an area that you've never been before. You're excited by the vista ahead. So naturally you forge ahead. But you don't make frequent stops to look backwards - and see how the countryside (and landmarks) would appear when you are retracing your steps. Therefore ... how can you possibly expect yourself to find your way back home.

Pete2


My Scouts always look at me like I have three heads when I make them do stop along our hikes and look backwards but it just makes sense to me that the more familiar you are with the area, the less likely you are to get lost.
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#257678 - 03/17/13 10:37 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: Hikin_Jim]
M_a_x Offline
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
Originally Posted By: Hikin_Jim
Quote:
the sense of direction may also wither with disuse. Small studies have found that using a GPS for just a few hours seems to impair people's navigational skills in the short term
All the more reason to practice map and compass skills.

HJ


I agree with the necessity to practice navgation skills.
I think the even more import statement was this:
Quote:
Many people get lost because they simply aren't paying attention, he added.

In a parking garage it might mean they have to do a long walk through the decks to find the car, in the wild it simply means they are lost. Good navigation skills usually really means getting into the habit of tracking the environment and having a good mental map. I think the study should have been phrased (or quoted)more accurately. Relying on the GPS is not the same as using it as additional tool.
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#257679 - 03/17/13 11:12 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: M_a_x]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Some environments are easier to get lost in than others. A dense forest on a cloudy day can be tough, especially compared to mountainous terrain or a deeply incised canyon; there you may be unable to travel because of steep cliffs, etc, but at least you know where you are.
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#257693 - 03/17/13 11:56 PM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: jshannon]
Glock-A-Roo Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 04/16/03
Posts: 1076
The advice to know map/compass first then GPS is wise and I preach it myself. However there is another truth lurking out there: a lot of map/compass guys don't know how to really leverage a GPS.

You may say that map/compass has served you fine for all these years and you don't need to know how to run a GPS like a scalded ape. But then, musket owners would feel the same way about an M4.

"I've done quite well with my slide rule, why should I care about silicon chips?".

There's deficits on both sides of the argument.

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#257694 - 03/18/13 12:19 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: Glock-A-Roo]
Bingley Offline
Veteran

Registered: 02/27/08
Posts: 1576
Originally Posted By: Glock-A-Roo
"I've done quite well with my slide rule, why should I care about silicon chips?".


Some slide rules have silicon chips. smile Sharp made an abacus/electronic calculator hybrid in the early days when people didn't quite trust electronic calculators. "How can it do calculations without gears or some sort of clever mechanical device?" So the abacus provided a bridge for the digital age. If you don't trust the silicon chip, you can double-check its work with the old-fashioned abacus on the right:



Neat, hunh?

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#257699 - 03/18/13 01:59 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: Glock-A-Roo]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
The best answer is "both of the above." As a field archaeologist,I had a lot of map and compass experience before GPS came along. In 1991-92, I acquired my first GPS (no map, the size of a brick, lousy battery life, cost $3000), and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Even so, GPS is not perfect - deep canyons and tall buildings can deflect signals and generate inaccuracies, but what an improvement!
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#257702 - 03/18/13 03:58 AM Re: Why Humans Get Lost [Re: hikermor]
Hikin_Jim Offline
Sheriff
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 10/12/07
Posts: 1804
Loc: Southern California
I don't mean to disparage a GPS. More than once, I've been very happy someone in my group had one along. But I do try to use brain first and GPS second.

HJ
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