GPS: The road to ruin for the brain

I was reading an article written by Greg Milner who is the author of the forthcoming book 'Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture And Our Minds', and that set me thinking how reliance on GPS while driving could erode our cognitive maps because we stop thinking for ourselves. In Human Evolution, we talk about the 'use and disuse theory' where disuse of an organ leads to its loss over a period of time!

As Greg mentions, after a couple of Swedes mistakenly followed their GPS to the city of Carpi (when they meant to visit Capri), an Italian tourism official dryly noted to the BBC that "Capri is an island. They did not even wonder why they didn't cross any bridge or take any boat". And an Upper West Side blogger's account of the man who interpreted "turn here" to mean onto a stairway in Riverside Park was headlined: GPS, Brain Fail Driver.

But some have tragic endings - like the couple who ignored "Road Closed" signs and plunged off a bridge in Indiana last year. Disastrous incidents involving drivers following disused roads and disappearing into remote areas of Death Valley in California became so common that park rangers gave them a name: "Death by GPS." Last October, a tourist was shot to death in Brazil after GPS led her and her husband down the wrong street and into a notorious drug area.

If we're being honest, it's not that hard to imagine doing something similar ourselves. Most of us use GPS as a crutch while driving through unfamiliar terrain, tuning out and letting that soothing voice do the dirty work of navigating. Since the explosive rise of in-car navigation systems around 10 years ago, several studies have demonstrated empirically the downside of using GPS. Cornell researchers who analysed the behaviour of drivers using GPS found these drivers to be "detached" from the "environments that surround them". Their conclusion: "GPS eliminated much of the need to pay attention."

We seem so driven to transform our cars, or other conveyances fitted with latest GPS that we fail to see one of the consequences is a possible diminution of our "cognitive map", a term introduced in 1948 by the University of California, Berkeley psychologist Edward Tolman. In a groundbreaking paper, Dr Tolman analysed several laboratory experiments involving rats and mazes. He argued that rats had the ability to develop not only cognitive "strip maps" - simple conceptions of the spatial relationship between two points - but also more comprehensive cognitive maps that encompassed the entire maze.

Could society's embrace of GPS be eroding our cognitive maps? For Dr Julia Frankenstein, a psychologist at the University of Freiburg's Centre for Cognitive Science, the danger of GPS is that "we are not forced to remember or process the information - as it is permanently 'at hand',' we need not think or decide for ourselves". She has written that we "see the way from A to Z, but we don't see the landmarks along the way". In this sense, "developing a cognitive map from this reduced information is a bit like trying to get an entire musical piece from a few notes". 

There is evidence that one's cognitive map can deteriorate. A widely reported study published in 2006 demonstrated that the brains of London taxi drivers have larger than average amounts of grey matter in the area responsible for complex spatial relations. Brain scans of retired taxi drivers suggested that the volume of grey matter in those areas also decreases when that part of the brain is no longer being used as frequently. "I think it's possible that if you went to someone doing a lot of active navigation, but just relying on GPS," Dr Hugo Spiers, one of the authors of the taxi study, "you'd actually get a reduction in that area."

GPS is just one more way for us to strip-map the world, receding into our automotive cocoons as we run the maze. Maybe we should be grateful when, sometimes we end up in an entirely different but beautiful place, even if by accident!

New take on the Midlife crisis

The phrase 'midlife crisis' is the stage in the middle of the journey of life when people feel youth vanishing, their prospects narrowing and death approaching. So they start feeling anxious and nervous. But there's only one problem with the cliche. It isn't true.

"In fact, there is almost no hard evidence for midlife crisis at all, other than a few small pilot studies conducted decades ago," reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes in her new book, Life Reimagined. The vast bulk of the research shows that there may be a pause, or a shifting of gears in the 40s or 50s, but this shift "can be exhilarating, rather than terrifying". Ms Bradley Hagerty looks at some of the features of people who turn midlife into a rebirth. They break routines, because "autopilot is death". They choose purpose over happiness - having a clear sense of purpose even reduces the risk of Alzheimer's. They put relationships at the foreground, as career often recedes.

Life Reimagined paints a portrait of middle age that is far from grim and decelerating. Midlife begins to seem like the second big phase of decision-making. According to the book, our identity has been formed; we know who we are; we've built up our resources; and now we have the chance to take the big risks precisely because our foundation is already secure.

The theologian Karl Barth described midlife in precisely this way. At middle age, he wrote: "The sowing is behind; now is the time to reap. The run has been taken; now is the time to leap. Preparation has been made; now is the time for the venture of the work itself." The middle-aged person, the late Barth continued, can see death in the distance, but moves with a "measured haste" to get big new things done while there is still time.

What Barth wrote decades ago is even truer today. People are healthy and energetic longer. Greater longevity is changing the narrative structure of life itself. People between age 20 and the early 30s can now take a little more time to try on new career options, new cities and new partners. Also, another profound change is the altered shape of middle age. What could have been considered the beginning of a descent is now a potential turning point - the turning point we are most equipped to take full advantage of. It is the moment when we can look back on our life so far and see it with different eyes. We begin to see how all our different commitments can be integrated into one meaning and purpose.

We might have enough clarity by now to orient our life around a true north on some ultimate horizon. Lincoln, for example, found in midlife that everything so far had prepared him to preserve the Union and end slavery. The rest of us don't have causes that grand, but plenty of people bring their life to a point. They dive fully into existing commitments, or embrace new ones.

Either way, with a little maturity, they're less likely by middle age to be blinded by ego, more likely to know what it is they actually desire, more likely to get out of their own way, and maybe a little less likely to care about what other people think. They get off that 'supervisor's perch' and put themselves in direct contact with the people they can help the most.

They achieve a kind of tranquility, not because they've decided to do nothing, but because they've achieved focus and purity of will. They have enough self-confidence to say no to some things, so that they can say yes to others. From this perspective, middle age is kind of inspiring. Many of life's possibilities are now closed, but the remaining possibilities can be seized more bravely, and lived more deeply.

What comes after the wedding matters more than the ceremony

Last week there was an article in The Straits Times, on how people getting married in Singapore are spending huge amounts of time and money on planning and having big banquets (whether dinners or lunches), many times stretching beyond their means in the name of 'one time affair'. I have seen this in my home country India also, where people can spend an obscene amount of money just to show off their status and wealth, which places an unsaid burden on other sections of society.

I had been thinking to pen down my thoughts when I came across a letter today written by a fellow reader echoing similar sentiments. The writer, Dr Patrick Liew writes that as a solemniser and counselor, he has seen that many couples spend more time preparing for the wedding than for what comes after it.These couples are often more excited about going for a honeymoon than about growing the values of a shared life. They are more focused on how to make a living than on how to enrich each other's life.

There is more time spent on pursuing quantity of possessions rather than quality of contributions. They plan for and are more prepared to handle life's pleasures rather than the pressures of building a healthy family and treasures that will last a lifetime. It serves to always remember that a house does not automatically become a home. A marriage does not naturally become a union for the greater good.

Marriage can be likened to developing a fruitful farm. Couples need to invest time and effort to nurture and strengthen their relationship. At the same time, they will have to balance the time they spend between looking at each other and looking ahead to serve a higher calling and worthier cause. Their commitment to a healthy marriage is not just made in a ceremony, but in the heart. It has to be made again and again to develop a meaningful, exciting and fulfilling relationship.

By investing wisely in the marriage, they will be rewarded with fruits of happiness, well-being and achievement.

Real process of learning

The real process of education should be the process of learning to think through the application of real problems - John Dewey

I agree with the above statement by John Dewey and firmly believe that unless the education is linked to real problems, it doesn’t serve much purpose. Let me elaborate!

Based on my teaching experience of 32 years, mostly at the undergraduate level, I have seen that to inspire and motivate my students to learn enthusiastically in the classroom, it is imperative to show them how what they are learning in the classroom is relevant to their life, future work and their own bodies! You see, I teach modules like Human Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Nutrition, Dietary Supplements, Psychology, etc. When my students are learning these highly technical subjects, it can be quite difficult for some of them; more so who have not done much Biology in school. But as soon as I incorporate medical case studies and share my personal experiences with patients related to that day’s topic, it starts becoming alive to them. They then start sharing their stories from among the family members, and how they are able to understand it better now! 

So rather than just memorizing the structure and function of heart for example, we shift the focus to real life situations, and learn through understanding the processes behind them. When we discuss the chest pain related to heart attack, how to read ECG and how it changes during heart attack, role of artificial pacemaker or causes of hypertension, our students are more interested in learning as these are common issues they have come across, and hence are better focused and motivated to grasp the finer details about the detailed structure and functioning of the heart. The moment of truth comes when they sometimes bring ECG or medical report of their grandparent in the next class to discuss with me! I then feel satisfied that my job as an educator or teacher is done as I have ignited that spark of learning in them!!

Some teachings from Gita

Swami Vivekananda said," Human is divine and our goal is to reach divinity". All of us want three things in life: happiness, peace and freedom. How to get these is a big question, and our sacred text, Gita, offers us many many insights and ways to get there. I attended the Annual Gita Forum in Singapore some time ago, and noted down some key points there as explained by learned speakers:

1. Listen first, talk later as you solve the problem by listening, rather than by being smart.

2. Ask deep, incisive questions to listen and understand the real issues, and be humble before the facts.

3. To make fair decisions, have a clear head, tough hand and warm heart.

4. Find a mentor for yourself, and provide mentor-ship to others.

5. Live your life as "yagya" or sacred offering by practicing giving. When you give more than you take, your life is fulfilled.

6. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in others' service.

7. Look at the intersection of life goals and career goals, and aim to achieve them to have a balanced life.

8. You will be treated as you act; whether as a victim or a leader.

9. You are an idiot if you don't believe in yourself.

10. Enjoy what you do rather than what you get.

11. Infuse your life with love and care. Spend time with people who love and inspire you.

12. Surrender completely through humility, love and compassion.

13. Find unique strengths of people around you, rather than look at their weaknesses.

14. Try to emulate the way great people live their lives-- uncompromising, adhering to truth, simple, loving and compassionate.

15. Do regular introspection, think and reflect on what is happening outside as well as inside you.

16. You have to BE the person you want others to be.