GPS always gets you to where you want to go. Right?
Wrong. Last week I gave GPS the name of the company we were supposed to visit and GPS took us to a strip mall. The company wasn’t there. So we searched Google for the company. The company address on Google was different from what GPS had for that company. And Google was right. The company had moved from the strip mall location several years ago. We entered the new address on GPS and after a few wrong turns, we arrived at the meeting ten minutes late.
Despite our misdirection, my friend said, “but don’t you like GPS better than maps?”
“Well, most of the time. You don’t have all that map clutter in your glove compartment and you don’t have to fold GPS when you’re done using it.”
But there are a few things I like about maps. I’m a big picture person. I like that maps show you the entire picture. “Oh, I see. I’m going northwest and my destination is close to the Gulf of Mexico and the Ford Museum.” Without that general overview, I always feel a bit lost, like I’m playing “Blind Man’s Bluff” blindfolded being parceled directions one or two at a time.
GPS - directions one step at a time
Another problem: nowadays is that people tend to rely on their GPS even when you warn them it will most not take them to your home. Our complex has a front and back entrance. Visitors must use the front entrance. But GPS sends people to the back entrance when they are traveling from a road that’s closer to the back entrance. Despite our warning, many people still follow GPS to the back gate which they cannot enter. They notice my directions to the front gate take them an extra mile and think GPS has found a shortcut we didn’t know about. At their expected arrival time, we get an annoyed call, “I’m at your back gate and I can’t get in.” This is an “I told you so” moment if there ever was one. “But I told you that GPS might direct you there, that you had to go to the front entrance. “Yes, but GPS said this was faster.” People trust GPS to know how to get to your home more than they trust you.
Our worst GPS experience was in Vermont. We were looking for a covered bridge and GPS had us on a narrow road in a wooded area. At an intersection, GPS told us to continue on to a gravel lane. We were surprised but figured the bridge must be nearby. Fortunately, a bicycler rode by. We asked if we could go further. He said, “No way!.”
We aren’t the only ones led to crazy places by GPS. See Oh, the Wacky Places you Will Go with GPS posted by Geico.
We were fortunate that our GPS error wasn’t deadly. In October 2022, a Hickory, North Carolina man was following his GPS and it reportedly took him down a road and to a bridge that washed out more than 8 years ago. (1) It was dark and the bridge did not have any barriers or warning signs to deter drivers.
In comparing GPS to maps, I realize that we all like to get our directions differently. I’m a big picture person – general to specific. I feel uneasy when people start by giving step-by-step instructions – my brain wants to understand where I’m going before you describe how to get there. GPS does not start with the big picture. After I type in Art Institute, I’d appreciate GPS telling me, “You are going downtown on the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Adams,” street before it tells me, “turn left at the next intersection.“ Thank you, GPS. Now I know where I’m headed.
Maps - the Big Picture - purple line shows the general direction I have to go
Being a big-picture person also means my eyes glass over somewhere around the fifth step when people give me detailed directions. One time my dad was trying to help me navigate from Hwy 41 to Hwy 24 in Murfreesboro, Tn. He gave details of each major intersection. “Once you hit Murfreesboro, you’ll pass Stone River Battlefield on the right, then cross the river in two blocks, then there will be a stoplight at Toot’s Broad Street restaurant on the left. There will be another stoplight at the Discovery Center then you’ll go two miles…”
“Dad, sorry, you lost me at Toot’s. Can you just tell me when I’ll turn?”
“Oh, sorry, you’ll go all the way through Murfreesboro and you’ll turn left under the overpass.”
To dad’s credit, he was able to switch gears. I once worked with someone who had to go through the details every time I asked a question. I’d ask, “Hey, on step 16 it says you should XXX, what does that mean?” “Well," she’d respond, "first you AAA, next you BBB, blah blah, after OOO you PPP.” I was ready to pee by the time she got to the item I asked about. Then, heaven forbid, I had a question about step 18. Unfortunately, she was my only source of information. Fortunately, we were working remotely and I could polish my nails through the first 17 steps.
Differences in preferences for detail or the big picture can lead to frustration and arguments. (2) If you prefer starting with the big picture, it’s difficult to hear step-by-step detailed instructions without the endpoint in mind. Hubby, on the other hand, tends to prefer very specific instructions. When he asks, “where’s the wine stopper?” I cringe. I know I won’t be able to provide details to his satisfaction. It takes my brain some time to translate the picture in my head to the details he requires. My natural response would be, “in the middle drawer with the Ninja lid.” But I realize he probably doesn’t know where the Ninja lid is, so now I have to figure out how to describe which middle drawer I’m talking about and then, once it’s opened, where in the middle drawer the wine stoppers are located.
I think technology should solve this problem. Technology gives us wonderful apps to translate languages. Instead of investing billions in virtual reality systems that give us fake experiences, someone should invent an app that translates specifics to detail and vice-versa. That might even reduce divorce rates.
What’s your favorite way of getting directions? If your preferences are different from your spouse or friends, have you worked these differences out? If not, don’t worry, neither have me and hubby. We’re waiting for that translation app.
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Note: I am a qualified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Administrator. MBTI knowledge helps people understand their preferences in how they like to interact with the world, how they like to give and receive information, and how they prefer to make decisions. This knowledge helps with interactions but still doesn’t prevent communication mishaps and arguments.
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References
Man dies after GPS leads him to washed-out bridge, YouTube, Oct 10, 2022
Susan Storm, The Secret to Communicating with Sensors and Intuitives, Psychology Junkie, September 13, 2018
Humorous videos
I used to route the school buses for our city. The bus department decided to try a GPS based routing program. It was unreal what they had for routes! It would have you going the wrong way on a one way street, driving through a lake, all sorts of stuff. It would have you loading a wheelchair on a busy thruway from the wrong side of the street! Glad I retired!
I like big picture also. Big maps keep me geographically grounded, but find myself become more and more reliant on GPS. It was a real education, after living in Chicago area most of my life and having streets for most part be NSWE, living here in SC where those points mean nothing. And we’ve certainly driven in circles on our many road trips while following GPS directions. And when I know the GPS is wrong, I’ll pipe up. This irritates Bob who says he can only listen to one person at a time!
Here in SC, I inadvertently ended up on an Army base following GPS directions. Very embarrassing! One more humorous example, The Office had an episode (when…