Why is it so hard to give good directions?

[Evil Eye]

We’ve all been there – the directions sounded so clear when we were told them. Every step of the journey seemed obvious, we thought we had understood the directions perfectly. And yet here we are miles from anywhere, after dark, in a field arguing about whether we should have gone left or right at the last turn, whether we’re going to have to sleep here now, and exactly whose fault it is.



The truth is we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. Psychologically speaking giving good directions is a particularly difficult task.



The reason we find it hard to give good directions is because of the curse of knowledge, a psychological quirk whereby, once we have learnt something, we find it hard to appreciate how the world looks to someone who doesn't know it yet. We don’t just want people to walk a mile in our shoes, we assume they already know the route. Once we know the way to a place we don't need directions, and descriptions like its the left about halfway along or the one with the little red door seem to make full and complete sense.



But if you've never been to a place before, you need more than a description of a place; you need an exact definition, or a precise formula for finding it. The curse of knowledge is the reason why, when I had to search for a friend's tent in a field, their advice of it's the blue one seemed perfectly sensible to them and was completely useless for me, as I stood there staring blankly at hundreds of blue tents.

Full article: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121106-why-we-are-so-bad-with-directions





The blue one? Sounds like a practical joke to me.



So, do you find it hard to give (good) directions?

Do you find it hard to follow directions sometimes?

Do you know people who give bad or good directions?

 

[Jazzy]

That's what MapQuest is for, right?

 

[DrLeftover]

It has been my experience that a lot of people don't know their basic directions such as which way is North, they can't read a road map, don't pay attention to where they're at or how they got there, and rely too much on habit and routine to get to where they want to go, so if there is some disruption to their normal route, such as a closed bridge, they don't know how to get there.

 

[Raven]

I have a really big problem explaining stuff, so giving someone directions is a nightmare!

 

[DrLeftover]

For a time I was a professional driver delivering stuff.



Once I stopped at a 'quick mart' to ask for directions because the route number and address I had weren't correct (the office I worked for had an old address for the business I was going to).



The lady behind the counter knew what I was looking for, but she explained it by saying turn at the corner where 'the Smiths' used to live.



I finally got a street name out of her, but I still remember her pointing and telling me the name of the family that used to live in the corner house.

 

[Evil Eye]

That's what MapQuest is for, right?

If you have a constant internet connection, yes.

so if there is some disruption to their normal route, such as a closed bridge, they don't know how to get there.

Which is weird, because cities are the easiest things to navigate. Just start out by picking a direction and start walking.

I finally got a street name out of her, but I still remember her pointing and telling me the name of the family that used to live in the corner house.

Human brains are interesting for sure...