Comments on: Why Do I Always Get Lost?

By: Anxieties re: Life in China « orientation

Anxieties re: Life in China « orientation — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:32:00 +0000

[...] 7] Getting lost. No joke! I can read a map, but even map-equipped traveler-navigators have found themselves stranded in a remote quarter of Beijing. Don’t believe me? [...]

By: NIkolai Kondratieff

NIkolai Kondratieff — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:49:10 +0000

I never get lost and always seem to navigate my way through cities, even upon my first visit. I must have ferro-filings in my head that automatically align me to the Earth’s magnetic field.

By: Facts and factoids, I « Beats and Pieces

Facts and factoids, I « Beats and Pieces — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:54:00 +0000

[...] 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment Remarkable: According to a survey of 12,500 people in 13 countries conducted by Nokia, 93 percent of people [...]

By: GaryD

GaryD — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:11:31 +0000

Gee, I wonder if the fact that Nokia, a company that makes cell phones with integrated maps and directions, sponsored the study has anything to do with the results. How about this factoid: 100% of all consumer surveys sponsored by mega-corporations are completely full of crap. Remember the good old days when people had critical reasoning skills? Ahhhh forget all that, let’s just believe whatever these snake-oil salesmen and their sycophantic academic colleagues plunk down in front of us! That should turn out just great for us.

By: Richard Green

Richard Green — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:24:15 +0000

I have had the good fortune to enjoy reading maps since I was a little boy. This has allowed me to (1) know my way around a lot of cities and (2) not be intimidated by new maps (although my aging eyes make it increasingly difficult to read street names–we need maps with bigger fonts!

Maps are beautiful things. We just need to figure out how to lead more people to enjoy them.

By: secretivek

secretivek — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:27:30 +0000

How in the world can you get lost in Beijing? Or Paris for that matter?

By: Wendy

Wendy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:50:13 +0000

On “giving wrong directions on purpose” I recall the Mexico City (and Latin American) experience. To many people it’s considered impolite or worse not to help, so when you ask for directions, most people give you an answer, but it’s not always accurate. Thus, the best way to get somewhere is to keep asking different people the same question as you go along, triangulating your way to your destination using the democratic principal that if most people tell you “it’s that way” it probably is.

Oddly enough when I lived in Mexico City, many Mexicans would come up and ask me directions. This puzzled me at first as I don’t look Mexican. But then it occurred to me, a foreigner who doesn’t know where something is will probably say “no se” (I don’t know) rather than give imperfect directions so if I did give directions they’d more likely be accurate.

By: sm2

sm2 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:04:04 +0000

Fascinating information. I found the “Almost half admit to giving wrong directions on purpose” to be particularly remarkable. Why on earth would someone do this? Maybe they all work for Mapquest?

By: Wendy Waters

Wendy Waters — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:37:04 +0000

As long as I’m outside, I have no trouble finding my way around in most places. But put me in a Mall or any indoor space and I could get lost for days.