On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:28:35 -0700, Christopher D. Green wrote: >I thought the issue wasn't that it was harmful, but that it was (to a >first approximation) impossible. What is harmful is people behaving as >though they can multitask.
I'm not trying to be obnoxious but do want to make a few points: (1) Pinker's Op-Ed piece in the NY Times is just an opinion piece and though he may be able to cite experiments in support of his assertions, he's under no obligation to do so here. Since it's just his opinion, he can make statements that others may well disagree with -- we're not talking data or a statustucak results here. (2) Regarding "multitasking", a key point in the article is Pinker's use of the term "genuine multitasking" which seems to serve as the basis for his argument against multitasking. Now, everyday experience tells us that most people can chew gum and walk at the same time, consequently, there are number of situations where everyone engages in some degree in multitasking or, to used an old phrase, "divided attention tasks". It should be clear that activities that have become automatic processes which require little conscious intervention can be executed with minimal error and one may be able to do two or more either in parallel or with quickly alternating attention. Is this "genuine multitasking"? I don't know because I don't know what Pinker means by "genuine multitasking". Would Pinker conisder the stage magician who juggles bowling balls while eating an apple as engaging in "genuine multitasking"? Who knows? Who cares? (3) Perhaps the real issue is that people are over confident in the assessment of their abilities (e.g., believing that they can do more things in a fixed period time than they actually can). It is quite possible that someone may be able to engage in "genuine multitasking" and be able to accurately assess that but I think that many people probably can't accurate assess the degree to which they can adequately multitask (e.g., driving a car while drinking coffee and shaving one's face with an electric shaver while holding a conversation on a cell phone). This isn't a problem of multitasking but the old problem of overconfidence in one's judgments. (4) Pinker's articles goes way beyond multitasking and even takes on Edward Tufte's "powerpoint is evil" position. If one wants to take Pinker's opinion seriously, they can but let's not confuse this with either a scholarly review or theoretical statement. And remember the old saying about opinions, that is, it's like a particular body structure, everyone has one, and they all stink except one's own. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu don allen wrote: > Those interested in the issue of whether "multitasking" > is harmful may want to read Steven Pinker's article in the > New York Times. > > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/opinion/11Pinker.html?hp > > or: http://tinyurl.com/38up85l > > -Don. > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=3036 or send a blank email to leave-3036-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
