Book Review: From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way
"There is still a world out there to explore, and we need to find a way through it."
- Michael Bond
Title: From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way
Author: Michael Bond
Type/subject: Non-fiction/Cognitive Neuroscience and Human Geography
Published: 2020
Pages: 304
When driving to the grocery store do you ever think about how you remember directions? What happens in your mind when you get lost? The process of remembering directions and navigating unfamiliar spaces is unique and part of what makes us human. The book "From Here To There" by Michael Bond provides a stimulating perspective of how humans navigate and what makes humans good navigators.
The book is organized in an easy-to-follow layout that keeps the reader wanting to learn more. Michael Bond uses thought provoking storytelling and science to provide readers insightful knowledge. He provides a history of how early humans navigated and how technological advancements are changing how we navigate now. The book looks at the influencing factors that make certain people better navigators than other. He discusses different hypothesis and studies for possible influences on navigation abilities such as early childhood experiences to gender. For example, children that can free-roam have better understanding of their surroundings and a better sense of direction. Michael provides interesting insights from many studies that look at children’s spatial awareness.
One section that particular caught my interests discussed how and what happens when we get lost.
“Fear of being lost appears to be hard-wired in the human brain, as visceral as our response to snakes: millions of years of evolution have taught us that the experience tends not end well”.
The chapter investigates what people do when they get lost. Interestingly, studies show that they do different things depending on gender, age, and experience.
If the topic of navigation and human behavior intrigues you then I highly recommend giving "From Here to There" a read.