Michael Riddle (Edison): GPS: Techno-Speak for ‘I Can’t Read a Map’

1. March 2009 by student.

Map. The mere mention of this word conjures up visions of being lost in an unknown place having to rely on vague directions of the indigenous citizenry, and correlating those directions to an extremely large and profoundly confusing maze of lines and symbols of varying size and differing colors; all the while scenes from the movie “Deliverance” (1972, IMDbPRO) keep surfacing in your memories, conjuring up an unidentifiable, yet unfeigned fear repressed and kept hidden for just such occasions. Are you shuddering yet?

I had my fist lessons in cartography as a Boy Scout at the age of nine. My brother and I would constantly fight over who would hold the map when the family took our annual summer vacation in the car. By the age of twelve, I mapped out and hiked fifty miles to earn the Boy Scouts’ coveted 50 Mile Hike Badge and Historic Trails Badge in the same hike. During my junior high school (they weren’t called ‘middle schools’ back then) and high school years, I was required to learn the difference between a political map, physical map, topographic map, and more. During my years in the service, I had to learn how to use a compass in conjunction with a map for survival skills, and learn how to read sea charts for navigational purposes.

With each passing year, technology, under the guise of making our lives easier, produces a myriad of devices designed to improve our quality of life and allow us to be more productive. Look back through time. The examples are countless: the calculator replacing the slide rule, the fax machine replacing the messenger, the computer replacing the…well what hasn’t it replaced. Don’t misunderstand me, these technological breakthroughs are remarkable within their own right and, given the need and opportunity, I own or would like to own any number of these devices. After all, I like my toys as much as the next person. My point is that as we embrace more and more technology, the opportunity to learn diminishes.

Some would argue that technology allows us to learn more or a wider variety of topics; and they would be right in that claim. Texting on a cell phone or “IM’ing” on a computer requires learning a language peculiar within that scope; but what practical application does that bear on real life. The argument also exists that the advent of technology has developed an education and career path inimitable to itself, and again, these claims are irrefutable. Yet how many times have you seen people that struggle with long division and fractions, or who do not know how to balance a savings or checking account, much less manage a credit card. Within my professional life, I have seen those hired that do not know how to properly communicate through written word, use proper grammar, and apply correct punctuation. Text messaging language has also crept into business correspondence such as letters, memos, emails, and the like; and this greatly offends me.

There is no doubt that technology has significantly improved our lives. Technological advancements in medicine, communications, transportation, invariably within every aspect of our daily life, undeniably enhances the quality of life for many people. Yet, I am left to wonder: is it acceptable to forsake the old knowledge in predilection to the new?

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