1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, there's Chuck, 3 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,159 Speaker 2: and we're doing this on our own, flying high like 4 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 2: an eagle to the seat. No, no, no, and this 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 2: is stuff you should know. No, no, no. 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: I'm so annoyed at this. 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 2: The episode from twenty eleven that we somehow recorded in 8 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 1: It feels that way a little bit, doesn't it. 10 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:38,160 Speaker 2: Yes, it does, it really does. 11 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: I think I was annoyed because and I put this 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: one together, so it's my fault, but like I feel 13 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: like it was just like, well, this study says this 14 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: about multitasking, and this study says this, and this study 15 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:48,599 Speaker 1: says this. 16 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:50,919 Speaker 2: I think you feel that way because that's exactly what 17 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 2: it does. 18 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: There's just no good story here. I think that's my problem. 19 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 2: There is there is. I think the story is is 20 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 2: that we're going to like flip everybody's wig because it 21 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 2: turns out that multitasking is a myth, a fraud. You 22 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 2: shouldn't even try to do it because not only is 23 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 2: multitasking impossible for you to do puny human, it actually 24 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 2: makes you worse at what you are doing. 25 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there are people plenty of people who 26 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 1: think they're great multitaskers. Yeah, they may be among the 27 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: very small small percentage of people who are super taskers, 28 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: which we'll talk about, but more than likely they probably 29 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: just think they're getting a lot more done by switching 30 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: back and forth between a bunch of different things. Yeah, 31 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: when they're really really not. And that's really what we're 32 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: talking about. Multitasking isn't even really multitasking, it's just it's 33 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 1: task switching very fast. 34 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 2: That's a much much better description of a task switching, 35 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 2: because when you're trying to do multiple things at once, 36 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 2: even something as simple as say like baking a cake, 37 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 2: like stirring like the batter while you're talking on the phone, 38 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 2: you're not actually doing those two things at the same 39 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 2: time as far as your brain is concerned. It's basically 40 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 2: flipping back and forth to make sure you're doing them 41 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 2: both adequately. And we actually can do something as simple 42 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 2: as that fairly well. But the more complex the tasks get, 43 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 2: and the more numerous the tasks get, everything just starts 44 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 2: the short circuit and you sit there and wake up 45 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 2: every morning and wonder why you're still so tired and 46 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 2: stressed out all the time. It's multitasking. 47 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, since you said short circuit, we should mention the 48 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: origin of the term is from a computer ad in 49 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five IBM report basically talking about their new 50 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: IBM system three sixty and talking about a computer's ability 51 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: to multitask or process tasks at the same time. And 52 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: since then, since the nineteen sixties, that really took hold 53 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: as far as a catchphrase, and psychologists have gone wild 54 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: with doing studies and experiments to see what are the 55 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: limits of the human brain as far as taking on 56 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: multiple things at once, which again, is it exactly at once, 57 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: Like you can do things like at the same time, 58 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: like bake air, stirring batter and talking on the phone. 59 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: But I think generally when people are talking about multitasking today, 60 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: they think more about I'm sitting at my computer and 61 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: I've got like five different tabs that are sort of 62 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: doing different things, and I'm also emailing and I'm researching this, 63 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: and I'm doing that at the same time. 64 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 2: And somebody's texting me and I'm getting push notifications. Yeah, 65 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 2: it's a thing for sure. That's one reason why it's 66 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 2: worth talking about, because if it's not actually effective and productive. 67 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 2: People should know that because it's becoming such a huge 68 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 2: part of our modern world. 69 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, So let's talk about it today. 70 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 2: Okay, So, sadly you already hit on the fact of 71 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 2: the podcast that multitasking comes from an IBM AD, but 72 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 2: you said that psychologists had gone I thought that joke 73 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 2: would have gone over better. You said that psychologists had 74 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,919 Speaker 2: gone wild like trying to figure out the computational processing 75 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 2: power of humans, And I think that's actually one of 76 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 2: the first problems that IBM AD kind of set it 77 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 2: up for us to view the human brain as a computer, 78 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 2: and that's not an exact analogy, which is why I 79 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 2: think we thought we could multitask for a while, because 80 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 2: we even thought computers could. But it wasn't until the 81 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 2: advent of multi core processors that computers themselves could actually 82 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 2: process more than one thing at the same time. At 83 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 2: the outset, including for the IBM System three sixty, the 84 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 2: computer with a single CPU was not actually multitasking. It 85 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 2: was doing the same thing that our brains do. It 86 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 2: was jumping back and forth between tasks really fast to 87 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 2: make sure it was doing them both adequately. So when 88 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 2: we kind of figured out that there was a problem 89 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 2: with processing, that there were limits to it. We established 90 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 2: very quickly something called a processing bottleneck. That, yeah, there is. 91 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 2: It's documented humans do not multitask to begin with, and 92 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 2: when we try to multitask, the results are terrible. And 93 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 2: it seems to be because there's like too much stuff 94 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 2: is trying to get through too narrow a passageway. 95 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 1: Yeah, and some people think that, you know, this bottleneck 96 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: happens most severely when you're trying to plan like an 97 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: action that you're going to do at the same time 98 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: as you're trying to retrieve something from your memory bank. 99 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: Memory plays a big part in all of this. And 100 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,559 Speaker 1: what we're doing, like we said, we're task switching. We're 101 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: performing things in sequence. So you're switching back and forth 102 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: very quick, you think, But there is something called a 103 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: switching cost. So every time that you're like you and 104 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: I are researching or something and we're like, oh wait, 105 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: I forgot we need to email Jerry about something, and 106 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: so I'll stop real quick and email Jerry and it 107 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: seems very seamless and then I go back to my work. 108 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: But there is a cost to that switch there where 109 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: it takes. It takes a second or two for your 110 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: brain to kind of ramp back up into what you 111 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: were on previously. May not seem like a lot, but 112 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: when you add that up over a lifetime of work, 113 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: there's a lot of inefficiencies going on. 114 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. So the switching costs is just a 115 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 2: time lag, a loss of productivity when you go from 116 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 2: one task to another, right, and especially if we're trying 117 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 2: to do two tasks at the same time, which we can't, 118 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 2: but we're switching back and forth over and over again, 119 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 2: that switching cost becomes more and more dramatic. And so 120 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 2: those two tasks, neither one of them gets done very well. 121 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 2: And there's theories about what's going on here. There's some 122 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 2: rival ones. The first one that was established, I think 123 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 2: as far back as the sixties. It's called the psychological 124 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 2: refractory period effect. And the psychological refractory period paradigm basically 125 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 2: says that when we're presented with two tasks that are 126 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 2: presented in quick secession, the response to task two is delayed. Right, 127 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 2: that's documented, we know that. But here's why they're saying that. 128 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 2: It's because the brain is still processing the response to 129 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 2: the first stimulus task one. So response to the response 130 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 2: to task two has to wait. And so the difference 131 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 2: in time between task two when that when we're presented 132 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 2: with that task and response one when we're complete the 133 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 2: first task. That period is called that refractory period, and 134 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 2: then it's followed by response too. So there's a there's 135 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 2: a gap, there's a chunk of time where we just 136 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 2: can't do anything for task two because our brains are 137 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 2: still working on task one, and then finally when we 138 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 2: complete task one, we can start on task two. And 139 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 2: that time in between that's the refractory period, and that's 140 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 2: what counts for that delay in response time, because our 141 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 2: response to task one is typically shorter than our response 142 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 2: to task two. So task two is completed in a 143 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 2: longer amount of time than task one was because it 144 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 2: was it was given to us while we were still 145 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 2: trying to complete task one. 146 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: Right. Uh, that's a good way to put it. Like, 147 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: there's no progress being made that in that downtime. 148 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 2: Right, No, not at least on task two from what 149 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 2: I can tell. 150 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, And I don't even think you're I mean, I 151 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: think guess you're putting to bed task one. I don't 152 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 1: think there's real progress being made at all. 153 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why some people. That's so that's a new version, 154 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 2: that's part of the rival interpretation. They're like, no, this 155 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 2: actually seems like you're not still completing task one during 156 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 2: that refractory period while you're waiting on tests two. There 157 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,439 Speaker 2: seems to be a blank spot where you're not able 158 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 2: to do anything when you're switching from one to the other. 159 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: Oh okay, I gotcha. 160 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's the new interpretation. 161 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,079 Speaker 1: Well, what they're talking about though, is the brain. And 162 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: when you look at the parts of the brain, the 163 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: prefrontal cortex is the one that is you know, if 164 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: you're doing something, you're paying attention to something, it's your 165 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: prefrontal cortex that is at work and it spans, as 166 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: we know, the left and right sides of the brain, 167 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,199 Speaker 1: and it's coordinating with each other when you're doing one 168 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 1: thing at a time. If all of a sudden you 169 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,839 Speaker 1: have two things, then the left side of your brain 170 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: is doing something, the right side of the brain is 171 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: doing something, and it's split up and that's where that 172 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: inefficiency really kicks in, right. 173 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's based on a French fMRI study from twenty ten. 174 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 2: Back in the ear where we used to call the 175 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 2: MRI the Wonder Machine. You remember that, right, So this 176 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 2: is like prime vintage Wonder Machine type study where they 177 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 2: found that you can still do a couple of tasks 178 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 2: that it does seem like there's a certain amount of 179 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,959 Speaker 2: parallel processing the brain can do when it splits the 180 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 2: two lobes, the two frontal lobes up and says, here, 181 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 2: you do this, and you do this. We can still 182 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 2: kind of do it, but neither one is as good 183 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 2: or as fast as if we just did one after 184 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 2: the other. That's the big joke for multitasking. But if 185 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 2: you add a third one, the brain just goes hey, 186 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 2: wires just completely goes kaputz. 187 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, like two one is ideal two as possible, and 188 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: again we're not talking about supertaskers, which we'll get to. 189 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: And three is just don't even try. What are you doing? 190 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: What have you been trying to do that for? 191 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 2: Or as the French researcher said, forget about it? Right? 192 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: Oh man, that got me. I thought you were about 193 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: to hit me with a good French phrase. No, I 194 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: love it. There was another study conducted at Vanderbilt Universe 195 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: Go commodores, right. 196 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, they're easy like Sunday morning. 197 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: They are, Oh boy, you're on a roll where they 198 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: talk about the brain exhibiting what's called a response selection bottleneck. 199 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: Another bottleneck, but this one's a little different. If you're 200 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: tasked with doing several things at one time, the brain 201 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: says what's more important, and so it sort of chooses 202 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 1: for you. But I also saw some other studies that 203 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: said that what also might be going on is you are, 204 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: maybe subconsciously, if you're trying to juggle two things, the 205 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: one that you're really paying the most attention to is 206 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: either the one that gives you the most pleasure or 207 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 1: the one that maybe can be completed as like a 208 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: sub goal. 209 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 2: Yes, so that's kind of a different interpretation too. So 210 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 2: these are kind of rivals to the refractory period paradigm, 211 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 2: and they're basically saying, like, our brains actually require a 212 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 2: moment switch and like we've kind of established in that 213 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 2: moment we're not actually doing anything. But these two different 214 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 2: ones that these two kind of interpretations that you just mentioned, 215 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 2: they strike me as kind of tomato tomato because they're 216 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 2: essentially saying the same thing. One is that you know, 217 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 2: the brain has to decide which activity is important, and 218 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 2: that it takes more time. The other one from David Meyer, 219 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 2: University of Michigan is saying, well, the brain has this 220 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 2: thing called adaptive executive control that says this priority is 221 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,679 Speaker 2: more important than this priority, So I need to work 222 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,679 Speaker 2: on this one first. It's it's the same thing. Like 223 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 2: I genuinely could not find what the distinction is. And 224 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 2: there's even some bad reporting on some of this stuff 225 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 2: where I saw David Meyer and his study from University 226 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 2: of Michigan was essentially described to suggest that that it's 227 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 2: showing like, oh, yeah, we can, we can do multitasking, 228 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 2: we can process in parallel, and that's not at all correct, 229 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 2: like he's saying like you can't do that at all. 230 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 2: I don't know how it got all kind of messed 231 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,599 Speaker 2: up like that, But there doesn't seem to be anybody 232 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 2: who says, no, we actually can. Everyone every single study 233 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 2: is it shows that we can't. The difference between the 234 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 2: studies is trying to interpret the results in different ways 235 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,839 Speaker 2: to explain why we can't or what happens when we try. 236 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: All right, so we're going to multitask. Now take a break, 237 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: I read a couple of ads, and we'll be right back. 238 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: All right. So we're back with multitasking. I mentioned early 239 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 1: on that memory, memory recall, when you're trying to do 240 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: something else can really suffer, and so we should talk 241 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: about memory a little bit. There's a guy named George 242 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 1: Miller who was a psychologist at Harvard who basically says 243 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: the human brain, as far as recall goes, is centered 244 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: around the number seven, with a little variation up and 245 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: down by two. So he's done studies where they basically 246 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: just say, hey, repeat these numbers after me. And what 247 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: they found is the average number of numbers that someone 248 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: can repeat back to somebody is seven, and again it 249 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: goes up and down a little bit. Some people are 250 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: inherently just going to be much better at that and 251 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: maybe can rattle off fifteen, but the average came down 252 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: to seven. So what people do when they're trying to 253 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: learn things or make something memorable is parse things out 254 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: and separate them into smaller bits for storage. 255 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so we do that with telephone numbers, social 256 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 2: security numbers, any string of ten numbers. We almost always 257 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 2: put hyphens or dots or something together. Dates. It's just 258 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 2: almost like an inherent thing that we do, an intuitive thing. 259 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 2: But we do that to make it easier on our 260 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 2: working memory. Remembering three sets of three numbers is easier 261 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 2: for our brains to keep in our working memory than 262 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 2: one long set of nine numbers. 263 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I guess there's no reason a social 264 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: security number should have those dashes, right. 265 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 2: I think that's exactly why it has dashes. 266 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, so you can so you can remember, so I 267 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: can just rattle out two eight seven nine six nine 268 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: four seven three. 269 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 2: Oh man, I hope that's not legit? 270 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: What so like, what could someone do with that? 271 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 2: Are you the LifeLock guy? Now, of course that's not. 272 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: I'm surprised I was able to even do that successfully 273 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,440 Speaker 1: without saying my real social security number. 274 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 2: It was really impressive. Actually, how is it a bunch 275 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 2: of numbers? So just kind of as a side note, 276 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 2: we've been talking a lot about working memory, and that's 277 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 2: a huge part of multitasking, because when you multitask, you 278 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 2: are you're not You're by definition, not completing one thing 279 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 2: before moving on to the other. You're stopping mid task 280 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 2: to move on to something else, which you probably stop 281 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 2: mid tasks to go back to the first one or 282 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 2: go to a third thing. That's what multitasking is like. 283 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 2: There's no, if you do it sequentially rather than at 284 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 2: the same time concurrently, then you're not multitasking. So it 285 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 2: requires working memory, it requires attention, it requires self regulation, 286 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 2: It requires an ability to keep goals directed in the 287 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 2: back of your head and also to be able to 288 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 2: place those goals on pause while you move on to 289 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 2: another goal. And if you have ADHD, you are you 290 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 2: have a challenge with every single one of those things. Memory, attention, 291 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 2: self regulation, goal direction. So it's Multitasking is really really 292 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 2: hard for people with AIDHD because it requires a lot 293 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 2: of functions that a lot of people with ADHD struggle with. 294 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 2: The big difference is in a lot of I think 295 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 2: I read at least one study it's like, well, if 296 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,479 Speaker 2: you have ADHD, you know you're just completely distracted all 297 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 2: the time. You should be really good at multitasking because 298 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 2: in that what multitasking is. And it's like, absolutely not, 299 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 2: that's just not at all. So I mean you, yes, 300 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 2: you're more distracted. But people with ADHD, they they're slightly 301 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 2: deficient in a really important ability in multitasking, which is 302 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 2: quickly diminishing the size of that switching cost right where 303 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,920 Speaker 2: you go from one task to the other, you're you're 304 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 2: if you're if you don't have ADHD, you're a lot 305 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 2: better at picking up that second task. That that gap 306 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 2: between switching is shorter with ADHD, it's longer. And then 307 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 2: the other problem with multitasking in ADHD is that if 308 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,919 Speaker 2: you become hyper aroused when you multitask, and hyper arousal 309 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 2: leads to much more elevated levels of stress and people 310 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,879 Speaker 2: with ADHD, which makes them even more prone to error 311 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 2: and to frustration and all sorts of stuff. That makes 312 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 2: multitasking that much harder. 313 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, and good setup for our eventual hopefully coming soon 314 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:27,119 Speaker 1: ash ADHD episode. We've already got the stuff kind of culled, 315 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: but it's a lot, it's a big episode. Yeah, So 316 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: I know people have been asking for it for a 317 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 1: long time. So anyway, that's that's coming down the pike. 318 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 1: But one thing that we have roundly seen in study 319 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 1: after study is when you try to multitask or task 320 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 1: switch back and forth, is that your work suffers. Not 321 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: only are you taking longer to get things done than 322 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 1: you would if you did it sequentially, and by sequentially 323 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: we mean completing a task and then moving on to 324 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: the next. That not only are you taking more time 325 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: when you think you're not. You think you're actually being 326 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: more efficient maybe if you're you know, living a lie 327 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 1: like most of us are, but you're actually doing less 328 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: the work is less good and you're making more mistakes 329 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:14,640 Speaker 1: along the way as well. 330 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 2: Yeah, did you say that it can take up to 331 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 2: double the time or more? No. Yeah, when you try 332 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 2: to multitask. If let's say you're doing your test with 333 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 2: making a paper airplane and then shaving a bunny, if 334 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 2: you try to do those two things at the same time, 335 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 2: it will actually take sometimes twice as long when you 336 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 2: try to do them at the same time. Then it 337 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 2: will if you make the paper airplane and then shave 338 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,439 Speaker 2: the bunny, try to do them at the same time 339 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 2: twice as long, and then you're probably gonna give the 340 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 2: bunny a bad haircut, and your paper airplane's gonna have 341 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,680 Speaker 2: a wonky wing and it's not gonna fly. 342 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: Sorry, shaving the bunny sounds like a very dirty euphemism. 343 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,480 Speaker 2: If that didn't even occur to me, you're a dirty 344 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:00,400 Speaker 2: old man, he says. 345 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,640 Speaker 1: You know, man, Hey, I'm just a regular guy likes 346 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: to shave the bunny, you know what I mean? 347 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 2: Oh my god, Oh god, see it's dirty, right, Yeah, 348 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 2: I feel like I'm blessing right now. 349 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: When when I put it that way. 350 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 2: Yeah. So in addition to it taking longer, didn't you 351 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 2: also say that the work suffers as well. Yeah. 352 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 1: They've shown on in work studies and stuff like that 353 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:28,879 Speaker 1: that you know, you can have up to a forty 354 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: percent loss in productivity if you're at your computer at 355 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: work and you're checking social media and you're doing quick 356 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: email checks and a quick browse to look up where 357 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: you know Tom Petty was what high school he went to? Like, 358 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,199 Speaker 1: all that stuff takes a couple of seconds, but it 359 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: compounds throughout the day and you end up like forty 360 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: percent less efficient. And those are just things that can 361 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: happen at work, Like there are actual real dangers when 362 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: you start putting people in automobiles. 363 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 2: Let's say, right, and Tom Petty went to Gainesville Heigh 364 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,280 Speaker 2: School in Gainesville, Florida. 365 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: Was it Gainesville High? 366 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:03,640 Speaker 2: Yeah? 367 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 1: Okay, I knew he grew up there. I just didn't 368 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: know if it was, you know, the actual Gainsville High School? Yeah, 369 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: the one or a rival school. 370 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 2: Nope. So driving a car is just dangerous enough, just 371 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 2: even if you're doing it right but since the advent 372 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 2: of smartphones, the ubiquity of smartphones, people have gotten really 373 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:31,439 Speaker 2: really careless. Yeah. Dangerous, Yeah, I mean like there's nothing 374 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 2: more shocking and angering to me. And driving past somebody 375 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 2: who's just staring at their phone like they're they're not 376 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 2: even like like looking up every once in a while, 377 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 2: they're just watching a video on their phone. It drives 378 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 2: me crazy, and so I'm like, of course crashes have 379 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 2: gone up at a million percent. There's no actual good 380 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 2: studies or data on how many crashes are caused by 381 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 2: people distracted by their phones. The best I could find 382 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 2: was a study from twenty twenty two, and it estimated 383 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 2: that only two point there's only been a two point 384 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 2: seven percent increase since the advent of smartphones in crashes, 385 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 2: an extra thirty five hundred crashes each year. None of 386 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 2: those thirty five hundred is justified or something to sneeze at, 387 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 2: but I would have guessed it was way more than that. 388 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 2: And apparently there are more dangerous things you could do 389 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 2: than be distracted by your phone, some of which we've 390 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 2: been doing ever since we started driving, like eating while driving. 391 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, or writing a letter long hand, or reading. 392 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 2: The newspaper, shaving a bunny. 393 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, of course, eating while driving is very dangerous. There's 394 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,679 Speaker 1: a study in twenty twenty one where fifty percent of 395 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: drivers say they eat while they drive. And I think 396 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: a lot of people eat and drink while they drive 397 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: and they think, well, that's not really that big of 398 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:58,199 Speaker 1: a deal. But the NHTSA says it sixty five percent 399 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: of near miss accidents are due to eating and drinking 400 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 1: behind the wheel. And if you're doing that, if you're 401 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: eating or drinking behind the wheel, it increases your chances 402 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,440 Speaker 1: of being in an accident by eighty percent. 403 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 2: That's shocking. 404 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: That is shocking. Coffee, they said, is the most dangerous 405 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: thing to consume while driving, and this is one of 406 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: the favorite things I've read in a long time. Other 407 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:29,400 Speaker 1: dangerous foods that they listed are soups, tacos, chili, Hamburger's barbecue, 408 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: fried chicken, and donuts, especially jelly filled donuts. Yeah, soft 409 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,200 Speaker 1: drinking chocolate. But who's eating soup while they drive. 410 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 2: I've not tried to eat soup, but I am guilty 411 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,399 Speaker 2: of trying to eat chili while I was driving. Before 412 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,399 Speaker 2: you mus like, this is ridiculous. You can't get chili 413 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 2: on road trips any longer? 414 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,120 Speaker 1: Would you stop by Wendy's? 415 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was, was it? Yeah? 416 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,200 Speaker 1: Oh man, I've had Wendy's Chilian so long. 417 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, this wasn't any time recent, but it was, you know, 418 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 2: it was a big moment in our life relationship. 419 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean I've had moments where I've been on 420 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,199 Speaker 1: a road trip and eating while I'm driving and been like, 421 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: oh crap, like I've swerved into the wrong lane or something. 422 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, what am I doing? This is completely 423 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: especially if you're like, you know, if you're trying to 424 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: mayonnaise up a hamburger or something like that. Not that 425 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:19,680 Speaker 1: stuff is good to do while you're driving. 426 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 2: No, or like dunk some nuggets and sauce or something 427 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 2: like that. That's a small target when you're going eighty 428 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 2: miles an hour, you know. 429 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, if you got a churo and some chocolate sauce, 430 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: you're trouble. 431 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 2: Some of these foods they they actually qualified, like why 432 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 2: they were on the report, like fried chicken. They said 433 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 2: a lot of people lick their fingers afterward, just depending 434 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 2: on what you've done with your fingers recently, you do 435 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 2: not want to lick them, especially while driving. But that's 436 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,920 Speaker 2: why fried chicken's on there, jelly filled donuts or powdered 437 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 2: because you can very easily drip on yourself and all 438 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 2: of a sudden you're looking down like trying to clean 439 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,360 Speaker 2: powdered sugar off you. I think coffee was on there, 440 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,199 Speaker 2: just because so many people drink coffee while they're driving. That. 441 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 2: Of course, just proportionately speaking, it's going to be one 442 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:11,639 Speaker 2: of the highest food related or crash related foods. 443 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: You're probably right. And fried chicken, I'm an expert. Unless 444 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: it's like a nugget or a finger, it's a two 445 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: handed affair generally, unless you have like a chicken leg. 446 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 1: But when you're eating something with fried chicken with bones, 447 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: it's a two handed affair. And you're also not something 448 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: you just bite into like a cheeseburger, because there are bones. 449 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: It's a little more, it bears more concentration. 450 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, you got a big old breast or a thigh, 451 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 2: you have to like basically palm it if you're eating 452 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 2: it one handed, And that's not how you're supposed to 453 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 2: eat fried chicken. 454 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:50,120 Speaker 1: Oh man, we should talk about schooling a little bit, 455 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: because there's obviously been a lot of studies about multitasking 456 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: and its effect on learning and stuff like that, And 457 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: there are studies that have found that it will really 458 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: affect your academic success. And if you have high levels 459 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 1: of multitasking in class or like while you're trying to 460 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 1: do homework, it's going to you know, just like your job, 461 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: it's going to have serious deleterious effects on your grades. 462 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 2: It's true, but depending on what you do. I thought 463 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 2: this was interesting but also kind of intuitive as well. 464 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 2: It depends on what you're doing while you're multitasking. Of course, 465 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 2: the study found that Facebook and text messaging were related 466 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 2: to lower or poorer academic performances, while searching online and 467 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 2: emailing were less related to poor academic performance. And that 468 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 2: makes sense, Like, if you're on Facebook or you're texting, 469 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,360 Speaker 2: you're probably not getting to the bottom of the research 470 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 2: paper you're writing, right, Yeah, if you're searching online or 471 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,200 Speaker 2: you're emailing, there's a much higher chance that you are 472 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 2: trying to find an answer you are engaged in research, 473 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 2: So that makes sense. That's more And this is a 474 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 2: problem when you're talking about multitasking, Like studies, they very 475 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 2: easily conflate distractions and multitasking. Yeah, and we yes, we 476 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 2: do multitask and a lot of on a lot of 477 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 2: occasions because we are being distracted, right, and so we 478 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 2: have to like kind of do something while we're still 479 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 2: doing the thing we're meant to be doing. But they're 480 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 2: not exactly the same thing, although they do seem to 481 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 2: kind of be related. We'll just call them cousins kissing cousins. 482 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: Even I saw step sibling, but I like cousin better. 483 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, either one works. 484 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: Frankly, I fall into this trap a lot because not generally, 485 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: when I'm researching for our show, I tend to focus 486 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 1: pretty well, except for maybe email because of that stupidding 487 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: comes through on my computer, which I need to shut 488 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: Down'll get to actually, we can talk about it now. 489 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 1: One of the things that you very much should do 490 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,920 Speaker 1: if you have a problem with this kind of distraction 491 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: is is getting those notifications turned off on your phone. Yeah. 492 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,359 Speaker 1: I don't like they annoy me, so I've always had 493 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: my phone ringer off and I get zero notifications just 494 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,679 Speaker 1: because it bugs me. But especially if you have issues 495 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: trying to focus, like don't get notified when someone comments 496 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: on your Instagram post or whatever. There's notifications for everything. 497 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,159 Speaker 2: It seems like, yeah, no, for sure, that's like one 498 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 2: of the first best steps you can do is start 499 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 2: turning off notifications, turning your ringer off when you're trying 500 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 2: to concentrate, like just really basic stuff that people are like, no, 501 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 2: thank you, I'd rather suffer in every way, shape and form. 502 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: Yeah. But where I was going with that is I'm 503 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: pretty good when I'm doing this job, but when I 504 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 1: just when we have one of our non research or 505 00:28:57,840 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: recording days and it's sort of I call them admin 506 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: when we're just doing all the other stuff that goes 507 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: along with the job, I really bounce around on those 508 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: days between tasks. 509 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 2: For me the like I can pay attention generally while 510 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 2: I'm researching the difficulty or the challenges I run into. 511 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 2: Remember that article from maybe The Atlantic in two thousand 512 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 2: and nine by Nicholas Carr is Google making us stupid? 513 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, where he talks about we don't read 514 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 2: deeply any longer, we're just superficial readers. I can fall 515 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 2: into that a lot, Like I have to force myself 516 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 2: to not just get the information I'm looking for from 517 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 2: an article, but to ingest it because there's always more 518 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 2: stuff that ties into other parts of whatever topic we're 519 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 2: researching in that article, and I but so rather than 520 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 2: just going in harvesting what I'm looking for and then 521 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 2: moving on or going in reading until I find something 522 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 2: I need to go look up because I don't know 523 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 2: what they're talking about, so open another tab and then 524 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 2: I just move on the line like that. If I 525 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 2: can just take the time to ingest like each article, 526 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 2: I get so much more out of it than I 527 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 2: do when I'm just kind of reading superficially from tab 528 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 2: to tab. 529 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: How do you read for pleasure? Is that easier for you? 530 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 2: I forced myself to relearn how to read for pleasure 531 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 2: because I realized, like I was reading nothing but nonfiction 532 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,959 Speaker 2: and it was always for work all the time. And 533 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 2: so I started reading short horror fiction again, ex buying 534 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 2: anthologies of horror fiction. And it's been a great, huge, 535 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 2: wonderful like change in my life because I forgot how 536 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 2: much I like reading fiction again. 537 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,920 Speaker 1: Same here, man, I'm reading a novel for the first 538 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: time in a long time. Wow, And I used to 539 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 1: be nothing, but I used to be in b N 540 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: oh yeah, nothing but novels. And then went through a 541 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: She's twelve year period where it was n BM almost 542 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:03,239 Speaker 1: nothing but memoir well and autobiographies and biographies. But now 543 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: I'm reading a novel again and I'm just having so 544 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: much fun. I was like, oh man, I used to 545 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: love this, and I'm glad I'm getting back into it 546 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: well and I can focus. Like we have family reading 547 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: time because you know, we're encouraging Ruby just to read 548 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 1: more for pleasure on our own, so the whole it's 549 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: hard to say, like, hey, go read and I'm just 550 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: gonna sit here and scroll on Instagram. So we have 551 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: our like our family reading times. We're like thirty minutes 552 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: every night. We all sit in the same room and 553 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 1: read our book together, which is really good. 554 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 2: That's awesome. 555 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fun, very nice. 556 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 2: I think that's a great place for a break. We 557 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 2: can let everybody just sit there and think about the 558 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 2: wholesomeness of the scene you just described. That's right, Okay, 559 00:31:42,040 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 2: we'll be right back. So I don't know if you 560 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 2: picked up on it yet, everybody, but there are there's 561 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 2: some low quality studies and even lower quality reporting when 562 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 2: it comes to something like multitasking. It's a bit of 563 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 2: a wild West still as far as our understanding of 564 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 2: what the brain's doing and why we can't do it 565 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 2: very well. We've got a general idea. I think we've 566 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 2: kind of gotten that across. But there's enough like leeway 567 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 2: that people can come along with stupid, stupid studies and 568 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:40,440 Speaker 2: the media will report on it breathlessly and it'll turn 569 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 2: out to just be not really right at all when 570 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:43,480 Speaker 2: you dive into the study. 571 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think a lot of those, at least 572 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 1: in terms of this research, I thought came down to, well, 573 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: who's better at this? Men or women? 574 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 2: Right? 575 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: Is that what you were thinking? 576 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a huge part of it for sure. 577 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, because they've done all kinds of studies of worse 578 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: because you know, what better time to pour money into 579 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:08,320 Speaker 1: research than to pit men and women versus one another 580 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: and a challenge and a competition of multitasking and task switching. 581 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: And there have been a lot of studies that do 582 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: show some differences. A lot of them have been very inconsistent. 583 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: A lot of the studies haven't been great. There have 584 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 1: been studies that say that, like, men are better at this, 585 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,480 Speaker 1: there have been studies say that women are better at this. 586 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: So I don't even know what to think. 587 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 2: I think the answer is we don't really know yet. Probably, 588 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 2: so yeah, Yeah, there hasn't been like a really good 589 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:46,280 Speaker 2: study or series of studies on it. I also don't 590 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,000 Speaker 2: think it matters, but who knows. If we're on a 591 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 2: quest to understand everything, including ourselves, and maybe it is 592 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 2: worth investigating the problem with the studies that have been 593 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 2: done so far as they jump to massive conclusions based 594 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:05,840 Speaker 2: on really poor data. Sometimes there was this one that 595 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,399 Speaker 2: the media was like, this guy did it proved it 596 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 2: women are better at multitasking than men, And when you 597 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,400 Speaker 2: read into it, you find that the response time of 598 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:19,240 Speaker 2: women was about sixty nine percent compared to seventy seven 599 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 2: percent of men. So men had an eight percent slower 600 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:28,160 Speaker 2: response time at a multitasking task. And then, to put 601 00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 2: the icing on the cake, they were worse at a 602 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,080 Speaker 2: key a lost key task. And get this, this is 603 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 2: the lost key task. You take a blank piece of 604 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,319 Speaker 2: paper and you show the researcher how you would go 605 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 2: find a key, imagining the blank piece of paper as 606 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,319 Speaker 2: a field and the keys in there somewhere. It's one 607 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,680 Speaker 2: of the most objectively interpreted tests I've ever heard of 608 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:56,560 Speaker 2: in my life, and men were apparently not as good 609 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 2: at it, or drew fewer lines than women did. Hence 610 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 2: further supporting the idea that the women were better at 611 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 2: multitasking than men because they could find a key in 612 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 2: a field better. Imaginarily speaking, is it is it like 613 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 2: a maze? No, it's a blank piece of paper, and 614 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:20,080 Speaker 2: you show how you would cross this field to look 615 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 2: everywhere for the key. I saw an example. 616 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,000 Speaker 1: Oh, okay, okay, an example. 617 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,319 Speaker 2: I'll get. It's just a series of lines back and 618 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 2: forth crossing the entire paper. Okay. For some reason, a 619 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:37,160 Speaker 2: man who had completely taken leave of his senses made 620 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 2: a circle design like a swirl, starting from the inside out, 621 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 2: and then like missed some owners of the paper. So 622 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 2: clearly women are better at multitaskingmment. 623 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:54,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, that is very interesting and so subjective. You're right, 624 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 1: because like, I don't know, I feel like if you've 625 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,880 Speaker 1: got one hundred people, there would be one hundred different scribbles. 626 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, And then who are you the researcher to 627 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:07,319 Speaker 2: be like, that's a pretty good strategy for finding a key, 628 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 2: you pass. 629 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: I have seen studies. There was one from pen Medicine 630 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 1: that found that men on average or are better at 631 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:25,080 Speaker 1: performing and learning a single task, whereas women are better 632 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,320 Speaker 1: with their memory to have a better memory and better 633 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:31,319 Speaker 1: social cognition skills that suggest that they may be like 634 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:34,319 Speaker 1: more apt to be better at multitasking. 635 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 2: So that's another study that you can poke a bunch 636 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:42,760 Speaker 2: of holes in. The study didn't do anything with multitasking. 637 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,279 Speaker 2: It was a brain imaging study that looked at the 638 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,080 Speaker 2: connectome how the brains of men and women are connected, 639 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,880 Speaker 2: and found some differences in the directions of the connections. 640 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,239 Speaker 2: Men had more connections from front to rear and rear 641 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:59,520 Speaker 2: to front. Women had more connections from left to right hemisphere. 642 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 2: And that's it. That's what that's what it found. And 643 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 2: for some reason, in the pressure releases in the in 644 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 2: what the media picked up, that was immediately translated and 645 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:16,840 Speaker 2: extrapolated into women being better at memory and social cognition 646 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 2: and men are better at navigating directions. That's what I'm 647 00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:23,239 Speaker 2: talking about. Like you, Yeah, Like I feel like this 648 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:25,840 Speaker 2: has devolved into a like, be careful what you read 649 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,920 Speaker 2: kind of lesson, But that's always a good lesson to include. 650 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, as far as media goes, you know, we talked 651 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 1: a lot about smartphones and stuff like that. It's sort 652 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,600 Speaker 1: of a different deal these days because in the old days, 653 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:41,440 Speaker 1: there would usually be a media. It's called an exchange 654 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 1: of media. So, uh, you know, TV comes along and 655 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:53,759 Speaker 1: replaces radio, something might replace print. New equipment replaces the 656 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,399 Speaker 1: old equipment. But now things are technology has moved such 657 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:01,319 Speaker 1: that things are being stacked admin to the Internet and 658 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:06,759 Speaker 1: smartphones and TV and gaming and texting and emailing like, 659 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,239 Speaker 1: things have stacked upon one another such that they've done 660 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:13,480 Speaker 1: studies where they found in the late nineties about sixteen 661 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:19,759 Speaker 1: percent of time media time was concurrent or combined basically, 662 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,200 Speaker 1: and in two I've tried to get something a little 663 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,399 Speaker 1: more up to date than this, but just six years later, 664 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,320 Speaker 1: in two thousand and five, that went up to twenty 665 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 1: six percent of media being used together. And I guarantee 666 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:32,959 Speaker 1: you that number is way way bigger now. 667 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,880 Speaker 2: So the most recent I could find was in twenty eleven, 668 00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:40,839 Speaker 2: and it was up to thirty percent. I mean, think 669 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:44,440 Speaker 2: about the difference between what technology you have in your 670 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,840 Speaker 2: house in twenty twenty four and what you had in 671 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:47,800 Speaker 2: twenty eleven. 672 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:54,839 Speaker 1: Yeah. I remember our old buddy Luke Ryan. Remember Luke, Yeah, 673 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,000 Speaker 1: he he was working in he's like an executive in 674 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:02,880 Speaker 1: TV and film and stuff, And I remember this is 675 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 1: very early on where he talked about the multi screen 676 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,879 Speaker 1: experience and that they were all searching, you know, how 677 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:11,319 Speaker 1: to crack that, and I was like, what do you mean. 678 00:39:11,719 --> 00:39:14,319 Speaker 1: He's like, you know, like if you're looking at your 679 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,760 Speaker 1: iPad while you watch TV. And it was so early 680 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:20,959 Speaker 1: in that technology that I was like, what, Like, that's 681 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,960 Speaker 1: so weird, right, And now I just feel like even 682 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:27,359 Speaker 1: I fall into the trap, even when I'm watching things 683 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,680 Speaker 1: I like of being distracted by my phone, yeah, which 684 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,120 Speaker 1: I hate doing. I really try to make an effort 685 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,080 Speaker 1: if it's not just some throw a dumb thing I'm watching, 686 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:37,920 Speaker 1: to really like all right, pretend like I'm in a 687 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:39,359 Speaker 1: movie theater and like put that thing away. 688 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, But it does take effort, doesn't It takes conscious effort. 689 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:42,839 Speaker 1: It does. 690 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:47,400 Speaker 2: So one of the weird things about media multitasking was 691 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,040 Speaker 2: what that's called when you have multiple screens that you're 692 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,439 Speaker 2: looking at at the same time, getting multiple inputs makes 693 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:58,000 Speaker 2: you dumber. Well, there's no study that shows that necessarily. 694 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,840 Speaker 2: There has been a study that it's related to a 695 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,640 Speaker 2: lower density of gray matter in the back of your brain, 696 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:07,919 Speaker 2: but that hasn't necessarily been shown to be a bad thing. 697 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,200 Speaker 2: And is that like the result of it we don't know. 698 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:14,920 Speaker 2: I think the thing that interested me about it is 699 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,120 Speaker 2: that there's a group of people who were accidentally discovered 700 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,880 Speaker 2: in just a few years back from some University of 701 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:28,400 Speaker 2: Utah researchers that are they're considered super taskers. To where 702 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:32,279 Speaker 2: they were they were part of a study of just 703 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:37,840 Speaker 2: finding out like differences in multitasking and cost switching, just 704 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 2: a general study on multitasking, and they accidentally discovered the small, 705 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,520 Speaker 2: small group of people who there was no effect on 706 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,920 Speaker 2: performance when they were when they were doing like performing multitasking, 707 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 2: like they were just as good doing it at the 708 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,120 Speaker 2: same time as they would have been doing it sequentially. 709 00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:59,839 Speaker 2: And this one article I read about it, they were 710 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,840 Speaker 2: they were kind of positing, like, you know, why is 711 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:05,440 Speaker 2: this such a small population. I think they found like 712 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:07,800 Speaker 2: two and a half percent out of four hundred people, 713 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:11,920 Speaker 2: just a handful. Do the math yourself, because I'm done. 714 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:18,720 Speaker 2: We're super taskers. And they were wondering if, like there's 715 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:24,000 Speaker 2: such a small population because it's a newly developing trait 716 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:25,959 Speaker 2: among friends that. 717 00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:26,880 Speaker 1: Like a new benefit. 718 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, Like because we're doing things like exposing ourselves to 719 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:34,480 Speaker 2: so many different inputs of information at once, some of 720 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:37,160 Speaker 2: us are getting better at it sooner than others, and 721 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,760 Speaker 2: that maybe we'll all be super taskers in one hundred 722 00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:41,759 Speaker 2: or two hundred years or something like that. 723 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:43,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 724 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:44,759 Speaker 2: I think I thought so too. 725 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:48,800 Speaker 1: So, you know, to finish up earlier, we said, obviously 726 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:51,839 Speaker 1: to turn off those notifications and things like that, as 727 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:53,320 Speaker 1: far as like how to focus more on how to 728 00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:56,960 Speaker 1: get a little bit better at this try and you know, 729 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 1: turn off the email, certainly, turn off social media and 730 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:02,680 Speaker 1: things like that. If you have to sit down and 731 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:05,920 Speaker 1: accomplish like a well, not even at the computer, if 732 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:07,080 Speaker 1: you want to sit down and read a book or 733 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:10,120 Speaker 1: do anything and you're getting notifications that can redirect you. 734 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:14,000 Speaker 1: There is a method that you found called the Pomodoro 735 00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:21,799 Speaker 1: technique created by Francisco Serelo, And basically there are these 736 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:25,120 Speaker 1: Pomodoro's timer but you can you can find them online 737 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:26,800 Speaker 1: if you want. They're very kind of clean and simple. 738 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,399 Speaker 1: But you decide at a task, you set your little 739 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,120 Speaker 1: timer for twenty five minutes, and you work on that 740 00:42:33,239 --> 00:42:37,520 Speaker 1: task until the little timer goes off. You record a 741 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:39,840 Speaker 1: little X there and take a break for five minutes 742 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:42,840 Speaker 1: and then go back to your work. And then every 743 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:46,960 Speaker 1: time you have four of those, so twenty five times four, 744 00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:47,640 Speaker 1: howevery minutes? 745 00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:49,399 Speaker 2: That is well plus can you take it two? 746 00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:52,640 Speaker 1: Well yeah, plus the breaks then you take a longer break, 747 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:55,120 Speaker 1: You take a ten minute break before you go back. 748 00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:57,320 Speaker 1: And apparently it's a pretty good technique. 749 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:00,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. So during that time, like all your emails off, 750 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:03,080 Speaker 2: all your notifications are off, your ringers are off during 751 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 2: that twenty five minute period, your heads down focusing on 752 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:11,000 Speaker 2: that task. Yeah, you're end of time management stuff. 753 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,880 Speaker 1: That's a good way to go totally. But some people 754 00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:17,560 Speaker 1: are like, no, it cares. I love being distracted with 755 00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:18,400 Speaker 1: all that stuff. 756 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:22,960 Speaker 2: Yep. Those are women because they're better super taskers than men. 757 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:24,799 Speaker 1: Apparently that sounds like it. 758 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:28,480 Speaker 2: If you want to know more about multitask king, then 759 00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:30,800 Speaker 2: you can go read all about it on the internet 760 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:32,920 Speaker 2: and see what you think of the quality of studies 761 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:36,000 Speaker 2: that have been produced on it so far. Maybe you'll agree, 762 00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:39,360 Speaker 2: maybe you won't. That's okay, because we're all people. And 763 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:41,920 Speaker 2: since I said that baffling thing, it's time for listener man. 764 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:46,440 Speaker 1: That's right, this pretty delightful email. Sometimes when we talk 765 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:50,400 Speaker 1: about stuff, we hear from actual people that were involved 766 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:53,040 Speaker 1: in that stuff. OHI just great. Yeah, and this one 767 00:43:53,239 --> 00:43:57,400 Speaker 1: was an actual student of the Spruce Elementary School in 768 00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:01,520 Speaker 1: San Francisco that was a part of that pioneering program 769 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:05,040 Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties that we talked about in the 770 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:07,799 Speaker 1: Pigmalion Show. So hey guys, I'm a sixty six year 771 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:12,600 Speaker 1: old man, retired elementary music teacher from California City councilman 772 00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:17,320 Speaker 1: in Syriana, Italy, and an alum of Spruce Elementary School 773 00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,879 Speaker 1: in South San Francisco. My husband and I usually fall 774 00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:22,440 Speaker 1: asleep to your show and replay the show in the 775 00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:25,880 Speaker 1: morning catch what we missed. When the Sandman arrived. Last night, 776 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:27,839 Speaker 1: I was on the brink of slumber and I heard 777 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,160 Speaker 1: Spruce School. I woke my storing partner and made him 778 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:33,879 Speaker 1: replay the podcast from the beginning, and needless to say, 779 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:36,239 Speaker 1: I was wide awake the entire show and stayed up 780 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:38,920 Speaker 1: late into the night in the morning hours scouring the 781 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:43,440 Speaker 1: internet for Pigmilion in the classroom. I was flabbergasted, to 782 00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:44,880 Speaker 1: say the least, to learn that I was part of 783 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:49,480 Speaker 1: that experiment. Also surprised to learn doctor Leonora Jacobson is 784 00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:51,799 Speaker 1: still with us at one hundred and one years old. 785 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:54,360 Speaker 1: I entered the Spruce School as a kindergartener in the 786 00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:58,280 Speaker 1: fall of nineteen sixty two, the same year actually midyear 787 00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:02,479 Speaker 1: when doctor Lenora and Jacobson became principal. Doctor Jacobson left 788 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,680 Speaker 1: after my fifth grade year in sixty eight. I had 789 00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:08,040 Speaker 1: his reeling at this point, guys, I've ordered the book, 790 00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:10,279 Speaker 1: the first edition coming from the UK. I made a 791 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:13,040 Speaker 1: mental list of my classmates who I'm going to send 792 00:45:13,120 --> 00:45:16,759 Speaker 1: to your podcast. I remember the testing. We thought they 793 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:18,840 Speaker 1: were fun. Actually, I was a bit of a class 794 00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:22,160 Speaker 1: clown and always one of my teacher's pets. My memory 795 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:26,400 Speaker 1: has always been sharp and can remember several personal interactions 796 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:29,520 Speaker 1: with doctor Jacobson in her office. You boys have given 797 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:32,520 Speaker 1: me a wonderful assignment as I tripped down memory lane. 798 00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:37,760 Speaker 1: And that is from the city Councilman of Siriana, Italy, 799 00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:40,279 Speaker 1: none other than Bob Giorsi. 800 00:45:40,719 --> 00:45:43,360 Speaker 2: Very nice, Bob, I'd love that email. Like just he 801 00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:46,840 Speaker 2: didn't realize what he'd been through until he heard the podcast. 802 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:47,840 Speaker 2: It's just nuts to me. 803 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:50,319 Speaker 1: I love it, amazing great to hear from you, Bob. 804 00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:52,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, Bob. And if you want to be 805 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:54,719 Speaker 2: like Bob and just knock our socks off, give it 806 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:57,480 Speaker 2: a shot. Do it via email, though, wrap it up, 807 00:45:57,520 --> 00:45:59,080 Speaker 2: spank it on the bottom, and send it off to 808 00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:06,960 Speaker 2: stuff podcast did iHeartRadio dot com. Stuff you Should Know 809 00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:08,520 Speaker 2: is a production of iHeartRadio. 810 00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,200 Speaker 1: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 811 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:15,280 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.