Well, well. Looks like all those kids with their "multi-tasking" were just blowing smoke up your ass. Turns out they're just easily distracted. I know that shifting focus quickly between a couple tasks can be helpful, but there comes a point where it can become a problem. And of course there are different definitions of multitasking, be it just thinking about a problem while completing a less demanding task like tying you shoes, talking on the phone while driving, or watching TV and holding a conversation. In each of these cases there's a debate over whether you're actually splitting your attention or applying your full consciousness for short intervals.
We've gotten this stigma where multitasking has somehow become automatically attractive or efficient, but that's not always the case. Are all these tasks really so trivial that they couldn't be done better or faster with your full attention? In the age of diagnosing and treating kids with ADD at the drop of a hat, why not de-incentivise promiscuous attention? We should teach kids how to prioritize and complete something before encouraging them to throw their already limited attention to the winds.
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