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The piecing together of multiple maps doesn't sound much different from the days when we relied upon "The Thomas Guide to Los Angeles & Orange Counties": https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-8541cb8ec83526640938d...

> just plugging an address into a phone and following directions is much less exciting.

Something I realised a year or two back: my mental model of breaking down a larger goal into smaller subgoals is navigation. If you want to get from somewhere in Los Angeles to somewhere in San Francisco, and that step needs to be broken down, it can be analysed into (a) get from LA to Harris Ranch, then (b) get from Harris Ranch to SF.

Obviously people growing up now don't think of things that way any more, because you don't have to be able to think of the equivalent of Harris Ranch on demand; what do you all use instead as a mental model?

[gedy]

First job was a delivery driver pre-Internet and Thomas guide was a lifesaver. It's hard to explain to younger people my pride in that I was "good" at finding multiple addresses and plotting best course between locations, then knowing where phone booths were to call in on the road, etc. Definitely makes me appreciate GPS and mobile mapping apps.