Via Negativa

Hikers aware they are lost in the wilderness are advised to stay in place and signal for help.

Those who wander after getting lost often perish, and are found to walk in repeating circles, expending energy and their precious water supply, often even deeper and more remote than before.

In the same way, the lost people today desperately undertake hopeless action for the sake of action. Their method has almost no chance of success while taxing them heavily and occupying their time, whereas calm consideration and choosing not to accumulate additional errors and burdens would allow them to rejoin civilization.