Second chances

“People are getting more and more into behavioral patterns where they’re simply taking instructions. When you rely on GPS, that’s what you’re doing; you’re taking instructions, like a cooking recipe: The GPS instructs you to go 500 meters and then turn right, just like a recipe tells you to put in a cup of flour and half a cup of butter. People’s ways of thinking are changing—adapting to patterns of receiving these recipe-like instructions, as opposed to patterns of forming internal cognitive maps. To put this in perspective, humans have a great capability for spatial navigation. The ancient Polynesians could navigate thousands of miles without any maps simply by looking at the stars. We have this potential, but we’re losing it.”

—Gloria Mark, “Addled”

The Signal is your loyal guide to a fast-changing world. … This week:

Developments

Ukraine and the U.S. make a deal. Things don’t look good between India and Pakistan. & Canada’s ruling party keeps ruling.

+ Established political loyalties keep fragmenting in Britain. Israel strikes again in Syria. & When a rescued Chinese student forgets his phone on Mount Fuji.

Connections

Who’s winning the struggle for power and influence in Syria?

Features

Why are people’s cognitive skills declining? Gloria Mark on how consumer technology is making us more error-prone, more stressed, and less productive.

& Where have all the workers gone? Matthew Notowidigdo on the transformation of the global labor market.

Books

From Camilla Nord, on why poor mental health is so hard to treat for so many people; Agustina Paglayan, on why there is so much furor over “indoctrination” in schools; and Angus Hanton, on why the U.K. is so dependent on the U.S.

Music

From Maria Somerville, A Sagittariun, and ZULI.

+ What’s Electro Sha’abi?

Weather report

53.3559° N, 6.3298° W …