The Truth about Multitasking
posted by Frank Pasquale
I’ve been of two minds about multitasking for some time. But growing evidence is suggesting that the very concept is a myth:
Dr. Edward Hallowell, a Massachusetts-based psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and has written a book with the self-explanatory title CrazyBusy, has been offering therapies to combat extreme multitasking for years; in his book he calls multitasking a “mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously.” In a 2005 article, he described a new condition, “Attention Deficit Trait,” which he claims is rampant in the business world. ADT is “purely a response to the hyperkinetic environment in which we live,” writes Hallowell, and its hallmark symptoms mimic those of ADD. “Never in history has the human brain been asked to track so many data points,” Hallowell argues, and this challenge “can be controlled only by creatively engineering one’s environment and one’s emotional and physical health.” Limiting multitasking is essential.
Walter Kirn concurs: “Neuroscience is confirming what we all suspect: Multitasking is dumbing us down and driving us crazy.”
Still, I think it all depends on the complexity of the secondary task. If I’m on a long phone call, I’m going to start checking my sage reader or Bookforum for interesting articles. Most TV shows take up very little “bandwidth;” it would seem a shame not to fold clothes or clean or cook during them. Perhaps it’s time for Birdthistlian sample of views on the matter.
June 24, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Posted in: Blogging, Law School (Teaching), Law and Psychology
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Responses (7)
Howard Wasserman - June 25, 2008 at 12:27 pm
So where does this take us on the question of Internet/Laptops in the classroom?
Frank - June 25, 2008 at 1:51 pm
i think towards more skepticism…but i hope to discuss this and other post comments more next week when i’m a little less busy!
John Armstrong - June 25, 2008 at 1:56 pm
It figures. Those of us who have already mutated to handle the modern information-saturated environment are styled “dumb” and “crazy” by the establishment, and are doped up with enough Ritalin and Adderall to keep William S. Burroughs happy so we don’t freak out the normals.
Multitasking might drive you nuts, but some of us have evolved.
A.J. Sutter - June 25, 2008 at 7:09 pm
BTW, where is your indented quote from? There isn’t any link or attribution.
Frank - June 25, 2008 at 7:15 pm
oh, sorry! it’s from a Christine Rosen article inthe New Atlantis Called the “truth about multitasking.” I’ll try to get that link in soon.
Patrick S. O'Donnell - June 25, 2008 at 7:37 pm
My wife’s job seems to involve multi-tasking of a high order (medical monitors, beepers, phones, computer, interaction with nurses, doctors, patients, public, etc., etc.) and while difficult, she manages. I, on the other hand, am convinced I cannot in any way multi-task (and could never hold down her job), it doesn’t suit me at all and I prefer to concentrate on the task at hand with my (fairly) undivided attention.
In any case, it seems Chrysler is betting on us multi-tasking while driving: “Chrysler will offer wireless Internet access in 2009 models”–see http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-wificar25-2008jun25,0,5947848.story
jd2005 - June 25, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’ve been of two minds about multitasking for some time.
Well played.
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