You Are Here : Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon, but Get Lost in the Mall

**Book Description** A fascinating exploration of human navigation, both feat and foible, in the age of GPS and GoogleEarth. We live in a world crowded by street signs and arrows. With the click of a computer mouse we can find exact directions to just about anywhere on earth, and with a handheld GPS we can find our precise latitude and longitude, even in the remotest of places. But despite all our advancements, we still get lost in the mall, can’t follow directions to a friend’s house and, on camping expeditions, take wrong turns that can mean the difference between life and death. Many other species, however, have an innate sense of direction. Ants display surprisingly sophisticated behavior, traveling great distances without wasting a step. Monarch butterflies and migrating songbirds pilot even greater expanses, thousands of kilometers in some instances, to targets that they might never even have seen before. A homing pigeon can be driven halfway across a continent in a lightproof box and then, on release, find its way—unerringly—back to its loft. What is truly amazing, though, is that humans, the only animal that has come close to understanding how some of these magnificent navigational feats are performed, are rendered helpless by dense bush or even an unexpected turn in a maze of cubicles. In __You Are Here__, psychologist Colin Ellard explains how, over centuries of innovation, we have lost our instinctive ability to find our way, as we traverse vast distances in mere hours in luxurious comfort. Some cultures, such as the Inuit, retain the ability to navigate huge expanses of seemingly empty space, as their survival depends on it, but the rest of us have been so conditioned by our built-up world that we don’t really know how to get from point A to point B. Drawing on his exhaustive research, Ellard illuminates this disconnect from our world with great clarity and explains what it means, not just for our forays into the wilderness but for how we construct our cities, our workplaces, and even our homes and virtual worlds. Architects and city planners, he suggests, need to consider human behavior when designing human environments, and we all need to recognize that we are part of, not isolated from, the space around us. **Colin Ellard on __You Ar__** Psychologist Colin Ellard Explains How, Over Centuries Of Innovation, We Have Lost Our Instinctive Ability To Find Our Way And Suggests That Architects And City Planners Need To Consider Human Behavior When Designing Human Environments, And We All Need To Recognize That We Are Part Of, Not Isolated From, The Space Around Us. Lost And Found -- Why Ants Don't Get Lost At The Mall : How Humans And Animals Navigate Space. Looking For Targets : Simple Tactics For Finding Our Way That We Share With All Other Animals ; Looking For Landmarks : How We Search For The Invisible By Using The Visible ; Looking For Routes : How We Try To Keep Track Of Where We Are By Noting Where We Have Been ; Maps In The World : How Expert Navigators Use Specialized Senses To Find Their Way ; Maps In Mouse Minds : The Mental Maps Of Space Possessed By Animals ; Muddled Maps In Human Minds : The Peculiar Nature Of Our Mental Maps And What It Says About How We Understand Space -- Making Your Way In The World Today : How Our Mind Shapes The Places Where We Work, Live, And Play. House Space : How Our Mental Maps Influence Our Behavior Inside Our Homes ; Working Space : How The Geography Of Our Mind Influences Our Habits Of Work And Play ; City Space : How Knowing (or Not Knowing) Our Place Influences Life In The City ; Cyberspace : How The Nature Of Our Mind Makes It Possible For Us To Live In Electronic Places ; Greenspace : How The Features Of Our Spatial Brain Influence Our Connections To, And Neglect Of, Our Natural Environment ; The Future Of Space. Colin Ellard. Originally Published As: Where Am I? Toronto : Harpercollins, 2009. What Science Says About Our Spatial Intelligence And How It Shapes Our Connections To Nature, Cities, Homes, And Virtual Worlds -- Dust Jacket Subtitle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 305-321) And Index. An eye-opening exploration of the intriguing and often counter-intuitive science of human navigation and experience of place. In the age of GPS and iPhones, human beings it would seem have mastered the art of direction, but does the need for these devices signal something else--that as a species we are actually hopelessly lost. In fact we've filled our world with signs and arrows. We still get lost in the mall, or a maze of cubicles. What does this say about us? Drawing on his exhaustive research, Professor Collin Ellard illuminates how humans are disconnected from our world and what this means, not just for how we get from A to B, but also for how we construct our cities, our workplaces, our homes, and even our lives. From the Trade Paperback edition. Explores the limitations of the human sense of direction and navigation, and explains the adaptations that modern society has made to provide its citizens with the means to orientate themselves within their environment, including street signs, maps, and GPS systems.