Why multitasking is a myth

Why multitasking is not what it seems

We have 32 teeth and 3 kinds of attention. The existence of two of them is a medical fact. No more than a hundred people on the planet know how to use the third. These are true masters of martial arts. Real multitasking works only there. Of course, they have not been studied, and therefore the brain areas that activate the third attention have not yet been identified.

It shows itself, for example, during a fight with several opponents. Imagine: the master "works" on one opponent and simultaneously watches all the others, and at the same time chooses with whom the next interaction will be most effective and what form it will take - defense or attack.

That means three information processes are handled simultaneously.

The rest of people cannot do that. We can actually perceive the background, that is, the second attention, and highlight one object within it, that is, the first attention.

The object can also be a task.

We know how to invest all our knowledge and skills into the first attention.

For example, a doctor works with a carious tooth. The bur is small, and the tooth is small as well. Accuracy of movement, fine motor skills, interaction with an assistant, speech activity, online analysis of changes in the environment - so as not to remove excess tissue.

All this is one large information cluster. And everything works perfectly. But the rest of the world simply disappears at that moment. And that is normal. That is exactly how it should be.

Of course, after the task is completed with the expected result, it can easily be unloaded from the neurons or transferred into long-term memory.

And then the first attention can be switched to a completely different task, perhaps not even a medical one, and another information cluster can be launched on the neurons. This is sequential task performance, and we are good at it.

But demanding multitasking from yourself or from others is a direct path to neurosis.

Take care of yourself. Do everything consistently.