Colin Ellard: Why We Get Lost | SciAm

From an interview by Gareth Cook with Colin Ellard, associate professor of psychology at the University of Waterlooby and author of You Are Here:

We have this tremendous ability to cast ourselves mentally through space and time. What I mean by that is just that it is very easy for us to imagine other spaces, places, and times. This ability to project ourselves mentally from one place and time to another is very powerful. For one thing, it helps us to plan ahead and remember our past experiences.

But I also think that this ability is connected in an interesting way with one of our crowning cerebral accomplishments -- self-consciousness. I think that to be aware of oneself as a causal agent in the world, one has to have this kind of ability to imagine other spaces and other times. ...

Towards the end of my book, though, I also talk about my fear that some of our basic inabilities to understand how spaces are connected to one another and how we fit into the picture is a part of what is responsible for our failure to protect our environment.