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Multitasking Considered Detrimental

Posted by kdawson on from the but-we-knew-this dept.

djvaselaar sends along an article from The New Atlantis that summarizes recent research indicating that multitasking may be detrimental to work and learning. It begins, "In one of the many letters he wrote to his son in the 1740s, Lord Chesterfield offered the following advice: 'There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time.' To Chesterfield, singular focus was not merely a practical way to structure one's time; it was a mark of intelligence... E-mails pouring in, cell phones ringing, televisions blaring, podcasts streaming--all this may become background noise, like the 'din of a foundry or factory' that [William] James observed workers could scarcely avoid at first, but which eventually became just another part of their daily routine. For the younger generation of multitaskers, the great electronic din is an expected part of everyday life. And given what neuroscience and anecdotal evidence have shown us, this state of constant intentional self-distraction could well be of profound detriment to individual and cultural well-being."

14 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. Hang on a sec by mrbluze · · Score: 5, Funny

    a bit trksey to typ wif on hand while im ... oh lookie shiny ponies!

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    Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    1. Re:Hang on a sec by jimmydevice · · Score: 5, Funny

      What? BRB

    2. Re:Hang on a sec by dodecalogue · · Score: 4, Funny

      a bit tricky to work for an employer while going to college... oh lookie a business idea!

  2. Multitasking is easy! by techmuse · · Score: 4, Funny

    I have absolutely no problems with...

    hold on a minute...

    multitasking. It makes me...

    one second...

    much more efficient, because I can handle...

    sorry about this...

    many different tasks at once

  3. Apparently it affects memory as well. by raving+griff · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently it affects memory as well. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/27/2221228&from=rss

  4. 2001 Called, They Want Their News Back by apok04 · · Score: 4, Funny

    CNN Article from 2001

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    It's not a bug, it's a feature
  5. In other news... by mechaman · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...it's been found that most guys already have a great tool for all this mono-tasking, Selective Hearing.

  6. Multitasking bad? by suck_burners_rice · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other words, I should wipe my drive and install MS DOS.

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    McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
    1. Re:Multitasking bad? by Urkki · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nah. There's a modern solution to this. Just get an X Windows window manager that can be configured to force maximized windows. If that's not enough for you, configure it so that it won't run more than one application at a time. If still not good enough (after all, with GUI applications, popups are kinda like using multitasking), just ditch X, remove screen (an application), and use only one virtual console. Possibly tweak the kernel so that suspend signals won't be delivered, if you're worrided you might get distracted by accidentally pressing ^Z.

      So just a little bit of tweaking, you can go all the way to MSDOS level of single-tasking with Linux! And if you need those MSDOS applications, there's dosemu too, so there's absolutely no need to use proprietary MSDOS directly.

      Just try to achive this with any modern Windows!

  7. Re:One-size-fits-all doesn't fit all by NoobixCube · · Score: 5, Funny

    My life is so dull, I donate unused excess brain power to SETI and Folding@home

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    Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
  8. Re:old man can't multitask by mazarin5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Give him a break, he's 314!

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    Fnord.
  9. Re:old man can't multitask by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Funny

    True, eating brains does take up most his day now.

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    How we know is more important than what we know.
  10. Gender very much part of this! by rishistar · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Multitasking may be detrimental to work and learning" says 18th Century man. "Verily, this is why women should not be permitted work or learn!"

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    Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
  11. Re:I do all my breathing in the first 2 hours .... by jonaskoelker · · Score: 5, Funny

    So what you're saying is that a slashdot thread without an analogy is like a car with only one liver?