We have a dilemma. Apparently multi-tasking is not so great to many people. But why? Why do people view this method of thinking, of doing unfavorably?
Is it the distrust and fear of the unknown? Is it jealousy? Is it romanticism?
We as people, have the ability to adapt to our surroundings and associated stimuli. This is my method of perceiving the world, and how to think within it. This method, used by Hagel, Merleau-Ponty, Geothe, among others, is called Phenomenology. A quick definition is that individuals interact with stimuli and objects differently, in their own way, according to the specific event, and past personal experiences.
Thus, why so many opinions can be made of a similar theme. If you did not grow up multi-tasking but working diligently on one task until it is done, then a multi-tasking, texting, walking, talking, whatevering person is going to look like a disaster to you. What if it is your want to work like that too, but do not have the ability to divide your attention effectively. Now you are jealous of a person’s ability.
What if it does not even depend on others, but is a hyper-romanticized existence of a time long past, augmented by the evolution of society and technology? In this case, your experiences of the past stand in the way of accepting differences.
But there are some claims about safety that are completely valid.
The past, present and future must be present in the mind as a continuum. This creates perspective and context against sentimental historicism, modernism and utopianism. This is not to say that people are solely focused in the past, but rather are aware of the past, the past that has become the present and is projected into the future. In this continuum people start and end their lives in different ways, creating an individual experience of life. When all of these individual experiences connect it makes of spectrum of being, and of time.
So, when you hear someone claiming multi-tasking to be good, or multi-tasking to be bad, just remember it is all a spectrum. And spectrum don’t work in binaries.
[thanks for listening]
So true! I wrote about multi-tasking too. I have to admit that while I feel that it is basically a good thing – it can have its limits. I do believe that it depends on the individual and the their frame of mind.