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Multitasking Considered Detrimental
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."
A previously the ]latest Netcraft
Good old Saul of Tarsus - he can always be relied upon for a quote, because he had ill-informed and stupid opinions about everything.
If Christianity were about Christ, most of the interreligionist conflicts of the last 2000 years would not have happened.
One swallow does not a fellatrix make
Old media will say anything to keep you away from the boundless culture available without cost on new media. This was true in 2001 because it's premise is contradictory:
Boundless communications and cultural stimulation is somehow detrimental to culture? Ridiculous.
To understand things you must first immerse yourself in them. Quiet contemplation has it's place but culture is inherently a group activity and the more connected you are, the more you understand. Nowhere is this more clear than in music. A lively tuba has universal appeal but the words of a song and their interplay with the music has no real meaning to a person who has yet to live their own life, let alone understand the life and circumstances of the artist. It is only after we have lived the life of another that we can spend a few hours contemplating it and come to real understanding of others and ourselves.