Geographies of Disorientation

Book excerpt: Spatial disorientation is of great relevance in the current era of globalization, provoking deep questions about our relationship with technology and the last remaining vestiges of our animal nature. Addressing questions such as: How do we orient ourselves? and What are the cognitive and cultural instruments that we use to move through space?, this book points to the web of relations implicit in the notion of disorientation. The book explores getting lost as a practice while discussing direct and indirect observation, wayfinding performances and the different technological tools we use to find our position in space, as well as employing disorientation as a metaphor for the contemporary era.