A review by georgea_1234
Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World by M.R. O'Connor

4.0

I thought this was a very interesting book. Wayfinding is considered the ability to navigate your way without use of technologies. The book starts off with an interesting discussion of the brain regions involved with these processes and unpacks the experiences of the author as she learns about the wayfinding skills that peoples in the Arctic, Australia and Oceania employ in finding their way through what appears to us to be nothing but unremarkable land- and sea-scapes. I was fascinated by the idea that we have an absolute and relative way to consider space and that this consideration of space may have to do with the way we construct narratives that guide us through the spatial world, but also more abstract worlds of myth and storytelling. The final chapters of the book look at how using less technology could allow us to flex our navigating skills without reliance on GPSs and technologies by noticing more of the hints around us everyday. However, there was a sense that this might be useful in the parts of the world which are not built up with roads and other people around every corner - not so much in cities or suburbia. Overall, an enjoyable read.