Ok everyone, I have a question. It’s the first full week of work after New Year so I’m sure you all want to ease in gently, and will be grateful for a little diversion.
I was in the car last week with A, as usual he was driving and I was feeding small biscuits to the baby at regular intervals like a dog you are trying to make sit. “Do you recognize the route now” he said, “do you think you could drive it without getting lost?”. “Yes” I said, “and, maybe”. “What do you mean ‘maybe’? We’ve driven it 10 times together”. “Well” I said “when I am driving I head towards things I recognize, but sometimes I get somewhere where I recognize two things, and I don’t know which one to head towards (eeny, meeny, miny, moe)”. “What?!?” (he was aghast) “You’re not serious. I don’t believe you”. But it’s true. It’s not that I don’t have the skill or ability to read maps, or that I don’t understand the concept of north, south, east and west, it’s just that when I am driving, I don’t naturally utilize those skills and concepts. I remember a series of landmarks and when I need to repeat that route, I re-trace my journey past these landmarks, following them like Hansel’s breadcrumbs.
“Maybe it is the difference between the male and female brain” said A, sounding unconvinced. I don’t know, it could be. Or it could just be the difference between him and me. I want to emphasise that it is not that I can’t navigate using a mental compass, it is just not my default state.
So guys and gals, what do you do? Do you picture your journey like a map, ever aware of your direction relative to magnetic north? Or, do you use landmarks as your guide, making your way to your destination in a stepwise manner? Is this really a male versus female thing? Of course it is possible, even likely, that people use a combination of the two approaches. However it’s my hunch that people fundamentally adopt one or other approach. I could be wrong. I’d like to know.
thenextexperiment 