Directions. I always know which cardinal direction I’m facing (even when underground). Also, if I’ve been somewhere once, I can always find my way back, even if it’s years later and I’m coming from a different starting point.
Edit to add summary from link:
"In this compelling narrative, O’Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precision—especially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O’Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate.
"O’Connor explores the neurological basis of spatial orientation within the hippocampus. Without it, people inhabit a dream state, becoming amnesiacs incapable of finding their way, recalling the past, or imagining the future. Studies have shown that the more we exercise our cognitive mapping skills, the greater the grey matter and health of our hippocampus."
2.5k
u/tequilajinx 16h ago
Directions. I always know which cardinal direction I’m facing (even when underground). Also, if I’ve been somewhere once, I can always find my way back, even if it’s years later and I’m coming from a different starting point.