This is a discussion on Following Directions... within the News & Current Events forums, part of the Current Happenings category; I'm always amazed at people who follow or depend on a device to the point of putting their lives in ...
I'm always amazed at people who follow or depend on a device to the point of putting their lives in harms way...
Couple stranded 3 days after GPS leads them astray - Yahoo! News
My sales reps across the nation tell me all the time they were late because their GPS took them down dirt roads, or the middle of nowhere. I've watched many skydivers die or flirt with death because they think their AAD-(Automatic Activation Device)-will always save their life...simply amazing thought process!
LOL my wife puts satnav on sometimes cos it warns us of speed cameras - we come to a roundabout she's been on hundreds of times and we always take the 2nd exit. The Satnav says 'take the first exit' and she does! Then tries to argue that the satnav may know a better route- then sulks!
I am hearing lots of stoires about gps leading people to the wrong place. I guess that is becuase more people have them and nothing will work perfectly all opf the time.
Some people play hard to get, I play hard to want!
Two parts to this, first the social standpoint...
People are conditioned to follow directions... IF..... they've already resigned themselves to listening or admitting they don't know what else to do. Think about it, people ask complete strangers for directions all the time, and will usually take the directions their given EVEN if the directions are counter intuitive or even if the person who they ask admits the directions may be incomplete or inaccurate. Also interestingly, people tend to cling to the FIRST set of instructions they're given, EVEN when better information comes along... Living and working in a tourist town it amazes Me how often I hear this conversation,
Tourist 1 "Excuse Me, do you live here?"
Tourist 2 "No, we're visiting from (wherever)."
Tourist 1 "Oh, well maybe you can help anyway, do you know how to get to the (whatever landmark)"
Tourist 2 "Er, uh... I'm not sure... I THINK it's (complete opposite direction from where Tourist 1 needs to go...)
Me- "Excuse Me, you said you need to go (whatever landmark)?"
Tourist 1 "Yes. Do you live here?"
Me "All My life... All you have to do is (correct and simple directions)"
HERE'S THE KICKER!!!
at least 50% of the time Tourist 1 THEN says.... "But Tourist 2 said it was the other way."
At this point I usually tell "Tourist 1" something to the effect of, "OK... Just trying to be helpful. Good luck."
Oddly enough, if people have NOT resigned themselves to follow instructions, or more not resigned themselves to the fact that they NEED instruction ... they'll resist it, even if the instructions are given to them multiple times the exact same way.
In 1996 I worked security and crowd control at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA, USA. I put in charge of several people and was stationed at the "West End MARTA" (subway/underground) station to keep things moving smoothly and safely. On several days we had rain, which should not have been a big deal.
However when 30,000 people an hour do this, it becomes a VERY large problem... Because as each one of those 30K people rode the escalator up to the street level, almost EVERY ONE of them would stop at the top of the platform, look dumbly up at the sky, and then fumble for their umbrellas. The backup resulted in several (fortunately minor) injuries, and every time this happened the escalator would get backed up, exceed it's weight restriction, and turn itself off, requiring clearing of the area so maintenance could reset the system...
My solution SHOULD have been simple. A multi lingual sign asking people to have their umbrellas ready. It didn't work... So I stationed one person at the bottom of the escalator to give the instructions
"It is raining, please have your umbrellas ready and continue walking when you reach the top of the escalator." In both English and Spanish.
It didn't work.
So I decided to stand at the top of the escalator with a bullhorn, giving the same instructions from the top...
It didn't work...
We also learned how to give the same instructions in German and Russian...
It STILL didn't work.
We dedicated another person to make the same announcements, via bullhorn, to people AS they exited the train...
IT STILL DIDN'T WORK...
Now keep in mind, we're dealing with an international cross section of people, so culture is not a factor. They were given simple spoken instructions in FOUR different languages, and directed to a large sign with about twelve more languages, BY PEOPLE IN THE OFFICIAL UNIFORM ... so language was not a factor...
What did I learn from this?
No matter where a person is from, or what language they speak, you can tell people FOUR times that it is raining and most of them will STILL look up like a dumb ass as soon as they can see the sky...
Secondly... A note on GPS, since I use Mine every day I'm working. GPS is an amazingly useful tool, IF you're at least basically familiar with the area you're in... EVEN the BEST GPS units are NOT always right. They also rarely factor in road condition, accurate traffic, or other factors... Listen to your GPS's directions, but have a map handy as well, look at your map and plot your course ahead of time, and above all else
USE COMMON SENSE!!!!
Good luck, Be well, and see ya'll round,
D
“I drove my fucking car into a lake. Why, you may ask did I do this? Well, because of a machine (looks at Ryan). A machine told me to drive into a lake. And I did it. I did it because I trusted Ryan’s precious technology. And look where it got me?….I tell you one thing, those gift baskets never endangered anybody else’s life.”
I like black pugs and I cannot lie...
Hmmm.
Thats kinda funny....
"For Those That Have Fought For It, Freedom Has A Meaning The Protected Will Never Know"
I just read a story where a guy try to cross railroad (not at a crossing) becuase his gps told him to, ya just cant fix stupid.
Some people play hard to get, I play hard to want!
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