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Old 03-26-2014, 03:43 PM   #1
frankbell
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"Multitasking" Is Bunk


So say Stanford professor Clifford Nass. Here's bit of his remarks as quoted at Psychology Today Blogs.

Quote:
. . . It turns out multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking. They’re terrible at ignoring irrelevant information; they’re terrible at keeping information in their head nicely and neatly organized; and they’re terrible at switching from one task to another… One would think if people were bad at multitasking, they would stop. However, when we talk with the multitaskers, they seem to think they’re great at it and seem totally unfazed and totally able to do more and more and more.
I think he has a point.
 
Old 03-26-2014, 06:14 PM   #2
enorbet
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When one considers that tests show that people driving while talking on the phone score worse than drunk drivers, it seems fairly obviously true.
 
Old 03-26-2014, 07:22 PM   #3
metaschima
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Personally, I know for a fact that I am NOT a multitasker. I have one single, but highly powerful CPU If am doing something, especially playing video games, I ignore everything else. If somebody asks me something during this time I have no recollection of what my answer might have been at the time ... it's more of a standard AFK / away from home message, something like "Yeah, sure, whatever".

I don't use my cell phone while driving, and if I have to then I use a hands free set and tell them to call me later or make it very brief. No chatting and texting and other BS.

Actually, I don't even listen to the radio while driving. It distracts me and tends to make me drowsy. If I drive on a long journey I'll burn a CD that makes an annoying noise every so often to keep me awake. Also, I don't drive or play video games for more than 3 hours at a time. After that I start making mistakes, so I take a break, eat something, etc.

Last edited by metaschima; 03-26-2014 at 07:25 PM.
 
Old 03-26-2014, 07:25 PM   #4
rokytnji
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Multi-Tasking can be fatal while riding my motorcycle.
 
Old 03-27-2014, 07:31 AM   #5
Pastychomper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by metaschima View Post
... If somebody asks me something during this time I have no recollection of what my answer might have been at the time ...
Sounds to me like you were parallel processing, rather than multitasking. Whichever subprocessor answered the question just didn't have write access to the logs at the time - maybe because the (same block of) RAM was being written by the CPU?

Last edited by Pastychomper; 03-27-2014 at 07:33 AM. Reason: correcting spurious write
 
Old 03-27-2014, 08:43 AM   #6
sundialsvcs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastychomper View Post
Sounds to me like you were parallel processing, rather than multitasking. Whichever subprocessor answered the question just didn't have write access to the logs at the time - maybe because the (same block of) RAM was being written by the CPU?
Sounds like "old age (and treachery)," to me ...

... I think ... uhh, what was I saying? ... oh, damm, I dropped that. Now, is it worth me trying to bend over to pick it up, or should I just buy another one? ... where are my glasses ...
 
Old 03-27-2014, 06:24 PM   #7
brianL
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Cigarette in one hand, mouse in the other - that's multitasking isn't it?
 
Old 03-27-2014, 06:46 PM   #8
sundialsvcs
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Nope, nope, nope. Brian, you forgot the bourbon. Or the Scotch. Or the pint. Or something.
 
Old 03-27-2014, 06:57 PM   #9
brianL
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Yeah, if only I had three (or more) hands. Bad design. Maybe in the future, genetic engineering: a blend of human and octopus DNA?
 
Old 03-27-2014, 07:52 PM   #10
dugan
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I don't know about anyone else, but when I was growing up in the 80s I was taught to FOCUS and CONCENTRATE.
 
Old 03-27-2014, 08:46 PM   #11
frankbell
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sundialsvcs, Scotch. Any Scotch is better than every anything else.
 
Old 03-27-2014, 10:20 PM   #12
sundialsvcs
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My favorite imbibe is a dark rum ... "neat." The flavor of molasses. Sipped, all by itself, very slowly.
 
Old 03-28-2014, 03:15 PM   #13
Habitual
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dugan View Post
I don't know about anyone else, but when I was growing up in the 80s I was taught to FOCUS and CONCENTRATE.
"You can't chew gum and walk at the same time" my Female Parental Unit always told me.

Multi-tasking is just another perpetration by "the man" to get you to do the work of the guy they just fired (and at the same pay). What a racket.
 
Old 03-29-2014, 01:27 AM   #14
Aquarius_Girl
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dugan View Post
when I was growing up in the 80s
and all this while I was under an impression that you must
around 35 years old.
 
Old 03-29-2014, 04:32 PM   #15
metaschima
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See:
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/03...-cellphone-use
I would agree with a total ban on cell phone use in cars. I mean alcohol use is banned because it greatly increases chances of collision ... so then why shouldn't cell phone use be banned ?
 
  


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