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From: Rich <rich@example.invalid>
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Schneier, Data and Goliath: no hope for privacy
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2025 23:06:46 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Feb 2025, Salvador Mirzo wrote:
>> Oh, yes, memory is another thing I notice.  Not only students, but 
>> teachers, too; I'm known as having a superb memory or something.  
>> Truth is, though, it's their memory that is not doing very well.
> 
> I think smartphones and google are a huge part of the problem.  I do 
> not have a smartphone, so I have to remember things like codes, 
> shopping lists, directions, and I am convinced it helps my memory 
> somewhat.
> 
> The young ones, just google everything, so they don't exercise their 
> memory.

There have been studies to the effect that yes, using 'google' or 'the 
phone' to remember everything does indeed erode the ability to actually 
'remember' without said crutches.

> For instance, one of the students the other day was amazed at how I 
> could live without google maps, and wondered how I do it.
> 
> My answer, I check where I want to go, before I leave home.  Most of 
> the time I remember it.  If I don't know exactly where to go, I ask 
> someone in the street, or ask a hotel.  The hotels are nice, because 
> often they give you a map.  For long trips I might print out the map 
> on a piece of paper.  This has the advantage of having zero value, so 
> I never have to worry about dropping it, forgetting it or someone 
> stealing it.
> 
> The students were chocked! ;)

I saw a news report once (credibility slightly suspect) which posited 
that there were even some of the "youngins" that use "gps phone nav" 
for navigating routes they travel frequently, such that without the 
"nav tool" they are unable to recall how to get "there" from "here" 
even though they have made the exact same trip 200 prior times.

I often 'frustrate' my wife by going off the beaten path (major roads) 
onto back roads (I'll admit, sometimes done specifically for the value 
of the 'frustration' part) to get "there" from "here" with no GPS nav 
or pre-planning at all and in almost all instances I get "there" even 
though the entire route is brand new for me.

Those students that rely on gmaps would be even more shocked with one 
of those 'side trips'.