How the brain navigates cities

[kurumi]

We seem to be wired to calculate not the shortest path but the "pointiest"  one, facing us toward our destination as much as possible.

Interesting summary of a study that appears to show people preferring vector-based vs. distance-based directions when they navigate on their own.

Based on a dataset of more than 14,000 people going about their daily lives, the MIT team found that instead, pedestrians appear to choose paths that seem to point most directly toward their destination, even if those routes end up being longer. They call this the "pointiest path."

https://news.mit.edu/2021/how-brain-navigates-cities-1018