Discussion: Orienteering references outside the O-World

MIT's OpenCourseWare just posted this Tweet:

Thank you to all the educators who guide us to find our own paths. Learn more about teaching a compass-led courses! https://t.co/bfbfNYQzfr #TeacherAppreciationWeek pic.twitter.com/tGm5EDlakp

— MIT OpenCourseWare (@MITOCW) May 6, 2019

What are some other places you've run into orienteering like things outside of the orienteering world?

After reading the article, it's interesting how it describes a "compass-led class" (not a "map that tells you where to go"), but the quote above thanks educators guiding students to find their own paths (routes). Conflicting analogies, or just a misunderstanding of maps and compasses?

we work by following a compass, not by following a map. A compass points you in the right direction, a map tells you exactly where to go. The Data Storytelling Studio is a compass-led course. I point students in the right direction, and then follow where they go. My role is to be with them on the journey to make sure they don’t fall into a giant crevasse.

Usually if I see any reference to orienteering in the non-orienteering public it's with a misunderstanding of what the competitive sport is about.

Everyone knows it's the sport where you run over mountains and eat lizards.

A compass points to north - it doesn't point you in the right direction - unless they're referring to a moral compass.

Nor does a map tell you where to go.... ??

Orienteers are the one finding the bodies in at least a couple of scandi noir novels I have read.

And in a couple of real life episodes in the USA that I know about. (Well, mappers, specifically.)

Sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson uses terms "orienteering" and "orienteers" in at least one of the books in his "Mars" trilogy in reference to passengers on a craft traveling to an unknown destination trying to guess / determine their route / destination.

The largest airline crash in Norwegian history happened on the way into Oslo airport back in the sixties, the plane crash-landed in Nordmarka north of the city. My father brought out his maps while we were listening to the radio reports about how horrible the search conditions were, "walking along dark and twisty logging roads", and we pretty much immediately figured out the two most likely hills that the plane could have crashed into. It took the official rescue effort several hours trying to locate the plane before it was found by local orienteers (with Tiomila headlamps of course!) working on their own. Since many people had survived the crash landing with severe injuries, the lost time was not good.

Content Magazine just had this article about Stephanie Maclean, an artist and a member of BAOC. It talks about how orienteering influences her art. If you have a T-shirt from a BAOC event, chances are that Steph did the artwork.
http://content-magazine.com/home/stephanie-maclean...

I read a Swedish crime drama - may have been one of the Wallender books, in which the body was found by a fellow out on a night time training run. One detective asked the other - What was he doing out in the woods at night? and the answer was: He's an orienteer. It explained everything.

Hadn't heard of Kurt Wallendar until now. Strange parallels with Inspector Morse. I bet neither would have been involved in solving a crimes.

Wallander and Morse are pretty well birds of a feather both coming out of BBC productions and both living in very small towns where murders happen at the rate of one per week for 10 to 13 weeks per year.
However Wallander has a lot more personal angst in his life.
That the British writers knew to write orienteering in to the script is impressive.

Luckily no one has mentioned The Office.

Jim Gaffigan's character on Flight of the Concords suggested they go orienteering. (They didn't)

There was a TV series a few years back. It was called Lost.
Two of the characters walking through a forest/jungle come across another looking at a piece of paper with some strange symbols on it.
"What are you doing?" they ask.
"I'm orienteering," he responds in a sarcastic tone.

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