What is it with multi-tasking these days? Has the world become so fast paced that people can't slow down and do one thing at a time? I think it might have to do with TV. I remember reading a study about how when TV came out shows were shot with just one camera and the action stayed on one subject throughout. Watch an episode of Mr. Rogers then watch any show on TV now. Any show. A 30 minute sitcom will have a main storyline and 3 or 4 sub-stories going on. The scene bounces from place to place and subject to subject every 30 seconds or so. This is what we raise our children on, yet we expect them to sit in a classroom and listen to a teacher for 7 or 8 hours a day. No jumping from subject to subject, no multi-tasking. It is no wonder so many kids have to be drugged to get through the day. So what needs to change? The world or the way we teach kids? Another subject I don't have the answer for really. The best I can suggest to a parent is to limit TV and teach kids from a very young age to participate in single activity events...board games, books, gardening, bike-riding...it is a lot more work than letting the TV babysit while you cook dinner, but it is probably worth it. I can't fix the school system, but wouldn't it be nice if there was enough money and initiative out there adjust the way we teach the kids to the way the kids learn? Perhaps if we saved the money we spend on standardized testing there would be more money for teachers salaries and creative teaching techniques.
Most people can't multi-task worth a damn. Most people thing they can. TV teaches us that we can, so we do. The most obvious example is talking on the phone/texting while driving, but there are million other examples. How many times have you been stuck behind someone in an aisle at the grocery store who is oblivious to everything around them, blocking aisles and dodging out in front of people? Do the math, the more ways you split your attention the worse you will do at each of the things you are doing. You brain will prioritize for you and it could be disasterous, yet we can't just do the one thing, not just simply drive. Most of the people I know use drive time as phone time, killing two birds with one stone, perhaps literally. I was following a truck the other day that was weaving all over the road and speeding up and slowing down. It was 4 in the afternoon. Not that there can't be drunk drivers at 4 in the afternoon, but I didn't think so. After following awhile I decided to make a break for it and get around him as fast as I could. I watched him in my rearview mirror once I got around. He was reading something, talking on the phone, and drinking a cup of something. It was ridiculous. I get very nervous when someone who is driving me texts or reads emails on their phone while driving. Usually they think they are doing just fine, but they aren't watching the road from my perspective. My first defense is to offer to do it for them. My next defense is not to ride with that person again if I can help it. I can't say I never talk on the phone when I'm driving, but if you call me and I'm driving, you can bet the call will be short, sweet and to the point.
I was sitting in a meeting today. Everyone in the meeting had their smart phones. If they weren't the one talking, it is likely that they were focused on their phone, probably hearing half of what was said. This is the norm at meetings where I work and probably everywhere. If I were the boss, I would ban phones from meetings. My boss is the worst offender. In fact there is almost a perception that if you have time to be at the meeting and NOT checking your phone, emailing and whatnot, then you must not be very busy or important. Yet I KNOW for a FACT that many if not most of the time these people are not doing work while they are sitting there. How do I know? I spent the meeting playing a Scrabble game with the guy sitting across the table from me. Hey, you have to do what you have to do to keep your job, right? I can't blame this directly on TV, but I'm sure there is a tie-in somewhere.
Next blog....the depression explosion, the drug companies and television...why they all tie together to make us one big unhappy society.
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