Do you think the use of a GPS is dumbing down America?
I’m not against using a GPS, in fact I use it everytime we go to Virginia or especially if I’m going to someplace new IN Virginia. You just type it in and you’re all set.
The reason this came to mind is, one day on the show this week, my son, Matt, joked about how he still uses the GPS to get to his dentist that he’s been going to for years. And THAT’S what I’m referring to. Does he not know how to get there because the GPS always tells him how? In truth, he does know how to get there, it was a joke, but I have heard others say, “Oh I don’t know how to get there. I always use my GPS.”
Back in my day!
Now I haven’t done any studies here but I think a lot of people my age learned how to get places by asking directions. Then hearing, “Take a left onto Rte 6, turn right at the McDonalds. Keep going until your third left, that’s Main St and you’ll find the place right across from the park.” There! You had to pay attention. Maybe you learned some street names or at least you learned where to turn. With the GPS you don’t have to think. You just do what it tells you to do.
I don’t mean to say it’s a bad thing to use GPS, I just wonder if we rely on the technology too much and we’re not paying attention anymore.
That was the argument when calculators came along wasn’t it? “Why learn how to do math when you’ve got a calculator in your pocket?” And didn’t teachers say, “You’re not always going to have a calculator with you,” and look at us now!
I do love Google too! Being a curious guy I always have questions about SOMETHING. We used to either look in the encyclopedia or go to the library. Now, it’s right in your pocket. I always have a question that comes up on the show and as long as I can spell the question right when I type it into Google, I have the answer in minutes!
And prepping a talk show, or any show, is so much easier now. We used to get five newspapers a day at the radio station. The Standard Times, Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Providence Journal and USA Today. I used to go through them all looking for any interesting stuff. The other guys hated me for cutting out articles I wanted but that was the fastest way to do it. Then tape those pages onto one paper and you were all set!
I am sad at what the internet did to the newspaper industry, myself included (there was no money coming in to pay a Sunday columnist), but I do have access to so much more on my phone or tablet.
So what the answer?
I guess as far as the GPS is concerned, pay attention to where you are going. Maybe quiz yourself occasionally and see if you can find it on your own. Don’t rely completely on technology because those few times when the power goes out or your cable is out or the router quits … you won’t be lost.
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