
Advice from a Geographer: Put Away the Map - laurex
https://undark.org/article/book-review-bonnett-beyond-the-map/
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sixstringtheory
I’ve always loved maps, I can sit and stare into one for hours, imagining all
the places represented. The best part of traveling to me is the surprising
difference between what I imagined and the real world.

In this sense, I see maps as guides, not definitive truth. It gets you to the
general right area where you can then really learn it for yourself.

I’ve found GPS turn-by-turn navigation to increase my reliance on the map as
absolute truth, and have noticed a marked decrease in my cognitive mapping
abilities. Now my wife and I will often play a game where we try to get home
using no maps at all, to expand our cognitive map of an area. This is helpful
because we move frequently due to our “nomad” lifestyle, which the article
also describes quite accurately.

