Posted by:
Anonymous on
March 27, 2007 at
11:50AM EST
The New York Times ran a story yesterday discussing the limitations and dangers of multitasking.
Slow Down, Brave Multitasker, and Don’t Read This in Traffic
There have been a lot of discussions about the dangers of cell phones, radios, I-pods, computers and other distractions while driving. I almost got whacked on my way home last night by a woman who was deeply involved in a cell phone conversation.
On of the interesting asides in the article is that younger generations are not necessarily better multitaskers than us old folk.
(1) Comments
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Posted by: Aaron Read on March 28, 2007 11:40AM EST
We did an entire show on how multitasking just doesn't work on "The Infinite Mind".
http://www.lcmedia.com/mind464.htm
There is NO inherent advantage in being young regarding capability in multitasking. More importantly, though, most people vastly overestimate their ability to *effectively* multitask. They THINK they're doing it well, but when objectively tested the vast majority of people do all tasks poorly when they do them at the same time. Human beings just aren't wired to focus on multiple things at once.
That's why cellphone use and driving is so dangerous; you've got two tasks that absolutely demand a lot of cognitive focus and virtually no one can truly devote that focus to both at the same time.
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