1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. Last 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,440 Speaker 1: time we talked, we talked a little bit about multitasking, 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: a little bit about multitasking as it relates to distraction, 6 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: the inner distractions, it's to a certain extant outer distractions. 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: But in this episode we're going to really get down 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: to brass tacks about multitasking in the human mind and 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: if ultimately it is even possible, that's right, because you know, 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: we all do it at all times. In fact, I 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: bet a lot of you out there right now are 12 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: listening to us and doing something else. And of course 13 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: we do that, right. I mean, when I'm working on something, 14 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: I'll tend to listen to music or podcast. Um. So, 15 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: in one way, you could say that as a society 16 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: we can't uh not multitask just because of of where 17 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: we are. Yeah, it is a busy, busy world. We 18 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: we inevitably complicate our lives with this endeavor and that 19 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,479 Speaker 1: endeavor we have. You know, we have family and home 20 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: and relationships, stuff we need to take care of. We 21 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: have bills, we need to take care of their stuff 22 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: around the house. There are pets who are pooping in 23 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: boxes and those boxes need to be cleaned out. We 24 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: have jobs, we have we have transportation, we have to 25 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: take their their varying levels of news that we ideally 26 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: want to keep an eye on. And then we have 27 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: recreations and we have passions that we wish to pursue 28 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: as well. And if you're lucky, you have a few 29 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: of those things that are so satisfying that when you 30 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: engage in them, everything else can fade away for a 31 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: little bit and you can sort of turn off the chatter, 32 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: turn off the multitasking noise. Like like, in researching this, 33 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: I couldn't help but think about the default network that 34 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: we talked about a little bit, about the the the 35 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: endless chatter, and about um loops that have not been closed, 36 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: these little things in our lives that we haven't checked 37 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: off yet, so they're always resonating when we see that 38 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: person or dry by that building, or whatever the case 39 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: may be. We have we have all of this stuff 40 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: just chattering in the background. And as you had alluded to, 41 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: when we get in that flow state, when we un 42 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: task um that is when we can experience, the chattering 43 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: just kind of going away, right, because you get into 44 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: that lovely state where you're only doing one thing and 45 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: you're really enjoying it. But most of the time we 46 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: are dipping our fingers and our thoughts in multitude of things, 47 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: and we think we're good at it that we are not. 48 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: We're going to discuss more about that today. And I 49 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: love that you said you mentioned unitasking because it instantly 50 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: brings my mind to to cooking and the idea, of 51 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: course that a unitasker is a kitchen object that has 52 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: only one purpose, and certain food people tend to frown 53 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: on the idea of a unitasker because it's like it's 54 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: a wasted gadget, like why do you have a melon baller? 55 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: It can only be used for melon balling when you 56 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: could use, you know, something else that can have multiple functions. 57 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: Because it's actually turned out in some of the experiments 58 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: we we looked at were so I guess more in 59 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: the commentary on some of the experiments we looked at, 60 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: um cooking like a really busy professional restaurant. UH kitchen 61 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: is often considered an environment where multitasking shines, where if 62 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: you if multitasking is possible, and people can do it, 63 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: or at least try to do it. That's one of 64 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: the places you want to because there's so many different tasks, 65 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: so many different meals being prepared in varying arrangements for 66 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: different tables, and only so many instruments and ingredients with 67 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:29,839 Speaker 1: which to create it all. Well. Now, some people might 68 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: argue that those people are super taskers, and we talked 69 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: about that in the last podcast, But some other people 70 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: might say it's pretty wrote because you're doing the same ingredients, 71 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: the same recipes over and over again and things. If 72 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: you've ever been inside a professional kitchen or you work 73 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: in one, you already know that things already set forth 74 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: pretty clearly. The missing scene is already set up for 75 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: each station. In other words, everything is where it needs 76 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: to be. So it becomes a lot more a lot 77 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: more intuitive to to do that work. But the rest 78 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: of us, of us, right, who are not supertaskers, who 79 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: tend to go about our day in a haphazard way. 80 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: Sometimes we think we're good at this multitasking. But just 81 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: as an example of of how we are not, I 82 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: wanted to bring up email voice. This is like the 83 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: serie thing, right, So what thing no, no, this is 84 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: Have you ever been on the phone with someone, You're 85 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: having engaging conversation, You're pouring your heart out, okay, there 86 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: with you, there with you, and all of a sudden, uh, 87 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: someone seems suddenly disconnected and they start to go, well, 88 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: what huh that? And then you hear tapping in the 89 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: background and you realize, oh my god, you're emailing as 90 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: I am pouring out that this this darkest secret of 91 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: my life to you. You know, I don't know that 92 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: I've encountered it personally, but maybe they're just clacking really quietly. 93 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: I have to say that there are a number of 94 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: people in my life who are multiteskers, particularly when it 95 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: comes to the phone. So I have, I have noticed this, 96 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 1: but I think all of you out there probably have 97 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: experienced this at one point or another. So it comes 98 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: back to this idea that you really can only do 99 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: one task well at a time. Um, even something is wrote, 100 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: is talking on the phone can be impaired if you're 101 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: trying to do something like emailing or reading or something. Yeah, 102 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: I have. I do have to say that there have 103 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: been some individuals that I've I've interviewed, either for this 104 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: podcast or for news stories, and there'll be a point 105 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: where I'm like, oh my goodness, they're driving a car. There, 106 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:24,840 Speaker 1: there's no way I'm gonna get some good copy out 107 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: of them, Like um, a recent one I did. I'm 108 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: not going to out them as having driven for the 109 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: first portion of the interview, and I ended up not 110 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: using that that part because unsurprisingly, he was much better 111 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: once he stopped driving his car. But there was this 112 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 1: one virtual reality dude who was kind of like the 113 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: hot shot, like a he's older now, but like especially 114 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: back in the early days of virtual reality, he was 115 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: a real, uh superstar. You know. He was doing some 116 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: photo shoots for for the different tech magazines at all, 117 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: and I remember interviewing and I'm like, oh my goodness, 118 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: he is in a convertible. He's driving down and I'm imagining, like, 119 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: you know, like a highway out of fear and loathing, 120 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: and he's chatting with me about virtual reality and gave 121 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: me some great copy. But he was driving a convertible 122 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: at at god knows what speed, so better I think 123 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,239 Speaker 1: it inconvertible than in the bathroom. Have you read has 124 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: someone ever taking you to the bathroom where they've been 125 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: on the phone. No, I mean, I've heard people doing 126 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: it here at work, but but luckily nobody has has 127 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: has revealed themselves as doing that during an interview. It's 128 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: amazing to me. It's a sanctuary. You probably shouldn't bring 129 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: other people in with you, even if they're disconnected in 130 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: a way. You know. I had another guy who was 131 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: making coffee while talking to me about I think about 132 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: global warming uh and and climate change uh and just 133 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: in the background suddenly he's grinding beans. But but anyway, 134 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: I digress. Um, Okay, so obviously, yeah, we're not great 135 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: at multitasking. Um. If you need another example. Another classic 136 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: example is texting and driving. The R a c Foundation, 137 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: which is a British nonprofit organization that focuses on driving issues, 138 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: asked seventeen drivers h four to use a dry think 139 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,679 Speaker 1: simulator to see how texting affected their driving. The reaction 140 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: time was around thirty slower when writing a text message, 141 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: slower than driving drunk or stoned. And we had mentioned 142 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: this in the last podcast. This is due to doing 143 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: two visual tasks at the same time, because apparently, if 144 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: you're going to a multitask, you should not do two 145 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: of the same types of tasks at the same time, Yeah, 146 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: because talking on the phone is certainly certainly distracts you're 147 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: still quote unquote multitasking to a certain extent, but but 148 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: you're combining um, you know, speaking auditory with visual Uh. 149 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: But when you are you know, like you said, when 150 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: you're when you're driving and you're trying to text, you're 151 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: combining two visual things. So both of those things, uh, 152 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: the performance rate drops impressively. That's right. So if you're 153 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: in a multitask, multitasking and that the smartest way you 154 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: can um and obviously texting and driving is not smart 155 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: at all, but there's a good reason for that. Again visually, 156 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: you know, if you're taxing yourself in that way, there's 157 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: no way that you can really give the ultimate attention 158 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: to what you're doing. Yeah, because both of these especially 159 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: the driving, there's so many variables. Well even though we 160 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: do it enough to where it kind of becomes automatic, 161 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: but there are so many variables and driving there's so 162 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: many things you have to control that that the the 163 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: impact of multitasking really uh takes a toll in your performance. 164 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: As we mentioned in the other podcast, if you're chewing 165 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: gum while walking, you're technically doing two things at the 166 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: same time, but the the required skill in both of 167 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: those tasks, so low you're you're you're probably not going 168 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: to see any change in your ability. But if you're 169 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: talking and you're walking, you are sure to miss the 170 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 1: clown that rives past you, because we saw in another 171 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: study exactly right. So let's come back to the supertasker. 172 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: And we touched on this a little bit in the 173 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: previous episode, but now we're gonna we're gonna dive a 174 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: little deeper into what this is and who these people are. 175 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: I mean, in a in a way, they're kind of 176 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: the the quiz dots Hotter act of the um of 177 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: of of of the tasking world. Um, the Dune fans 178 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: will remember, that's the idea. They're just like the perfect 179 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: godlike being that will deliver the planet. I was just 180 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,199 Speaker 1: gonna say, bless you. What was the name of it 181 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: against Okay, yeah, well thank you. Uh but yeah, so 182 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: the idea of the supertask like I said, they're they're 183 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: one one in a d um very rare. Most of 184 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: us cannot multitask, but as a one experiment revealed, you 185 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: can find individuals whose brains seem uniquely capable of handling 186 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,359 Speaker 1: multiple things at once. It's true. University of Utah professors 187 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: David Strayer and John Watson put student subjects into a 188 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: driving similar and at the simulator, and then at the 189 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: same time, they received a call on a hands free 190 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: cell phone, and Strayer says that they engaged in a 191 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,839 Speaker 1: conversation that involved memorizing strings of words that were presented 192 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: as well as solving math problems. So they're driving along, 193 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: they give this call, and first they're asked, uh, math, 194 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: these math problems are correct? They given these examples, and 195 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: then they're asked to list words in order, all right, 196 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:06,719 Speaker 1: and they're up to five math problems in words that 197 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: could be included in a single conversation. Finally, the drivers 198 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: were asked to follow another car at a specific distance, 199 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: you know, keep the keep a reasonable distance between themselves 200 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: in that car, right, not crashing into them. And that's 201 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: what they study was the distance between that car to 202 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 1: see how the conversation affected that distancing. All right. So 203 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: most did far worse when doing both tasks than when 204 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: they did only a single task. Uh. Their break reaction 205 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: time was much longer, and they tended to follow the 206 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: lead vehicle to greater distance. In addition, their memory and 207 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 1: math performance has suffered as well. But in in the 208 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: course of all these studies, out of about a thousand students, 209 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 1: they found around twelve who didn't have worst driving performance 210 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 1: and on average performed better on the memory and math 211 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: tasks while they were driving. And so here we have 212 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: the quitsas hat Iraq, the Messiah of multitasking, the quote 213 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 1: unquote supertaskers it. That's amazing to me because nine and nine, 214 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: eight of them excuse me, n them tanked, right, But 215 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: these twelve, these special twelve, something is going on obviously 216 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: with them to allow them to have such recall. Now 217 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: they want to do follow up studies about this, obviously, 218 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: and do a little bit more mr I and get 219 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: into the brain because obviously that's where they're going to 220 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: find some answer to their questions about what's going on 221 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: um And we should probably dip into the brain as 222 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: well and figure out what parts are active here when 223 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: we're multitasking. Yes, let's dip in with with a melancholer 224 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: it were okay, let me take out a little bit 225 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: of the pre frontal cortex because apparently this is very 226 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: important because as part of the brain plans and coordinate actions. 227 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: And here's a really cool thing. And humans, the prefrontal 228 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: cortex is about one third of the entire cortex, while 229 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: in dogs and cats it's about four or five percent, 230 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: monkeys about So this means the bigger the prefrontal cortex, 231 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: the more flexible our behavior can be, and the more 232 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: we can multitask. So um, some people would actually argue 233 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: that our early hominid ancestors had to multitask. This didn't start, um, 234 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: you know, in the twentieth century. This this rapid multitasking, 235 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: although of course it's gotten much more aggressive, but you know, 236 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: as soon as as early man had to deal with 237 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: multiple things going on. Um, you know, maybe it's stoking 238 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: a fire. And yeah, I mean certainly, when you get 239 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: into tool use and the use of cooking and basically 240 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: external digestion, you're beginning to the human as a as 241 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: a as an organism is beginning to expand and all 242 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: these varying occupations. And then once we this culture builds up, 243 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: and certainly once you reach the point where individuals can 244 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: specialize in a given task, all the more. Right, So 245 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: there's an idea that it's hardwired in us where we 246 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: need to do it we're supposed to do it. But 247 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: to what degree, I guess is the question. And to 248 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: what degree have we evolved alongside what we're actually capable 249 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: of doing now or sort of capable of doing. Um. 250 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: What we find out is that when we are doing 251 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,599 Speaker 1: a couple of things at once, yes, we've got the 252 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: prefrontal cortex to do it, but we're demanding much more 253 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: of the cognitive process. You and I have talked about 254 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 1: this before, this idea that we have a finite amount 255 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: of mental energy that we can sometimes bolster with food 256 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: and whatnot. UM. But like a video game, you have 257 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: a power meter, and everything that happens to you in 258 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: the course of the day is going to influence that 259 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: power meter. In the occasional power up may give you 260 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: a little boost, but at the end of the day 261 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: it's gonna wear. Yeah. But let's say that you are depleted. 262 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: You you don't have you know, a good, um glycost 263 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: bump there with a piece of food or an apple 264 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: or something like that, and you're just tired, and you're multitasking, 265 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: you're demanding a lot. You've got a big cognitive load 266 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: going on. And this is when you see the brain 267 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: um entering into what we call bottlenecking, and that's just 268 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: what it sounds like, right, nothing's really getting through because 269 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: you're trying to do a bunch of tasks at once. 270 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: And this is because you're doing something called task switching. 271 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: Right now. This is Yeah, this is really interesting because 272 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: it gets into the idea that there really isn't such 273 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: any such thing as multitasking, the idea that well, not 274 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: in the sense that we're doing two things at once. Instead, 275 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: we're more like an individual who who instead of doing 276 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: one thing with one hand and one thing with the other, 277 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: is switching back and forth between two tasks with both hands, 278 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: if that makes any sense. Yeah, I kind of think 279 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: of it as a train conductor to right, like you're 280 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: you're switching tracks. Yeah, I mean, well, there's since the 281 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: title of the podcast, a one track mind, um, which 282 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: is generally kind of used as a put down. Oh 283 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: they've got a one track mind. They're only thinking about 284 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: one thing. But at any given moment, we can only 285 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: have a one track mind. Uh, that's just the the 286 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: extent of our cognitive capabilities. And uh, I can also 287 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: think of it like a two deck tape player. You know, 288 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: you got two decks there, You've got two different tapes 289 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: in there. Maybe one's Queen's Greatest hits and maybe the 290 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: other one is Bob Speaker's greatest hits. But you're only 291 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: gonna play Bob Sneaker or Queen. You're not gonna play 292 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: them both at the same time unless you do a 293 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 1: little mash up thing, which is going to require some 294 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: pre planning. And it's still just one track, right exactly. 295 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: Um yeah. Brain scans during task switching show activity in 296 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: four major areas. The prefrontal cortex, of course, which is 297 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: involved in shifting and focusing your attention and selecting which 298 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: task to do one. And then you've got the posterior 299 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: parietal lobe, which activates rules for each task you switch to. 300 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: The anterior singulate gyrus monitors errors errors again very important. 301 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: We'll talk more about that and the pre mot motor 302 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: car text. It's one of those morning's pre motor cortex 303 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 1: is preparing you to move in some way, right, that's 304 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: the part that makes your hands, in your legs and 305 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: your feet all moved together. So, according to Psychology Today's 306 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: article the true cost of multitasking, each task switch might 307 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: waste only one tenth of a second. But if you 308 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: do a lot of switching throughout the day. This can 309 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: add up to a loss oft of your productivity. Yeah, 310 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: It's like, if you're doing two different things in two 311 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: different rooms of your house, you're gonna have to move 312 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: back and forth between the two and it may not 313 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: be much of a distance, but the more you go 314 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 1: back and forth, the more you're pacing around the house. Um. 315 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: It's it's also interesting thinking and looking at this multitasking 316 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: to to think of it as kind of juggling as well, 317 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: the idea that you have three balls and you're trying 318 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: to keep at least one of them in the air 319 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: at any given moment. But but that that tends to 320 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: serve as a slightly better way of thinking about it. 321 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: There's a study in the July sixteenth episode of neuron 322 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: Um that suggested that our brains aren't really built to 323 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: handle parallel processing like we've been talking about. But the 324 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: good news is that studies have shown that extensive training 325 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: can make us better at doing two things at once 326 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: or more, you know, juggling back and forth between these 327 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: two different things. And there are various theories and why 328 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: this is the case, but one of the strong ones 329 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: is that with a lot of practice, certain routines become 330 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: kind of automatic. UM. An example of this that came 331 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 1: to mind actually has to do with I was reading 332 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: some Roger Ebert reviews the other day because he tends 333 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: to be my go to guy, like with a lot 334 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: of people, he's kind of my go to guy for 335 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: movie reviews, and I ran across a thread where he 336 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: was responding to uh, some listener feedback on his review 337 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: for Silent Hill. Uh. The movie based on a video 338 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: game that came out a few years back from Christoph Ghans, 339 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: wonderful imaginative French director who did Brotherhood the Wolf and UM, 340 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: and Ebert was just kind of perplexed by the movie. 341 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: He was just like, that didn't really make sense to me, 342 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: and um, and somebody ask him a few questions about 343 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: an Ebert to drew some parallels to the study. UH. 344 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: It analyze people's brain activity during video games, and when 345 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: they first start playing a video game, a whole lot 346 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: of the brain area lights up because they're they're having 347 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,920 Speaker 1: to deal with new controls and new environment and new activities. 348 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,199 Speaker 1: But as they become better and better at the at 349 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: the game, that that neural activity shrinks down to like 350 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: just a very small area. And then and then in 351 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: this we get into the whole idea of video games 352 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: as a as a release, Like I don't want to 353 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: use my whole brain. I just want to use a 354 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,880 Speaker 1: very little portion of it and give give my my 355 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: thinking arrest. So which kind of goes into the flow 356 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:19,919 Speaker 1: state in a weird way, right, Yeah. And so the 357 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: better you become at a task, the more of a 358 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,120 Speaker 1: flow state it is, or the more familiar you are 359 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: with the various things that go into it. Like I 360 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: think of activities we do on the computer, like like 361 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: um goodness, I used to when I worked in newspapers, 362 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: had he's in design all the time to build these pages, 363 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: and they're all these hot keys, you know, different combinations 364 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: that then make that just save you enormous amounts of time. Uh, 365 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: and you end up just committing those two memory and 366 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: then inevitably you reach that point we're having to train 367 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,960 Speaker 1: someone else and how to use it and cannot you know, 368 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: and there's like no actual memory of what any of 369 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: those hot keys are, Like I can only form up 370 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 1: by game memory, just like pure muscle memory. So I 371 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: had my brain had refined it down to just the 372 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: bare minimum amount of thought required to carry it out, 373 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: which enabled me to do things like build pages and 374 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: listen to science podcast at the same time. That's interesting 375 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:12,880 Speaker 1: because I used to do a lot of database work 376 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: and it's sort of the same thing. And sometimes I 377 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: felt like, you know, sort of like I was in 378 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: the matrix and I was just like moving through space 379 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 1: and time and yeah, and fulfilling because you're doing all 380 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: these things at once. Yeah, you're right, because I felt 381 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: like I was being really productive. Put that hatteract making 382 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:32,679 Speaker 1: a spreadsheet in that in that moment, I might have 383 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:34,880 Speaker 1: just because it depended on the task. Again, it could 384 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: have been wrote at that point, but if I had 385 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: to engage a little bit more cognitive muscle, not so much. 386 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:44,919 Speaker 1: Now here's the question men women do we have a 387 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: different share and multitasking is the jury out. Is it 388 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: true that women are great multitaskers or is it just 389 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: sort of cultural baggage. I've been thinking about this one 390 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 1: because in terms of cultural baggage, I mean, I can 391 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: definitely see where individuals would and I'm not not without 392 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: even dry any science into it, yet, I can see 393 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: where the cultural idea that women are multitaskers and men 394 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: are not they both men and women could really get 395 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: behind that idea. Because for women, Uh, if someone says, oh, well, 396 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: you're a natural multitasker, it's well, it's like, thank you, 397 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: that's great, because that means I'm capable of doing I 398 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: am the hits that cataract of spreadsheets, Thank you very much. 399 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: And then for men, if someone says, don't you know, 400 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,199 Speaker 1: don't worry, You're just not your your gender is not 401 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: about multitasking, then it's kind of like, well, WHOA, Thank goodness, 402 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: that's a load off my shoulders. I can only be 403 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 1: expected to do one task well at any given time, 404 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: so I've kind of got an out for all the 405 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: other things I screw up in my life. All Right, Well, 406 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: so I'm about to mention this study, but before I 407 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: do so, I will listen that. And I'd like to 408 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: hear from the women out there too. Maybe you don't 409 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 1: want to be known as a multitask or maybe you 410 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,399 Speaker 1: feel the cultural baggage of that. And I say that 411 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: because there's a two thousand eleven study at the Department 412 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,159 Speaker 1: of Sociology Anthropology at Bar Lawn University in Israel, and 413 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: this found that working mothers came This is a family 414 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,640 Speaker 1: of working mothers and fathers, they spend about ten more 415 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: hours per week multitasking than do working fathers. So we're 416 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: talking about forty eight point three hours as UH compared 417 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,880 Speaker 1: to thirty eight point nine for dad's okay. The lead 418 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: author of the studies share Offer said when they multitask 419 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 1: at home, for example, mothers are more likely than fathers 420 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,680 Speaker 1: to engage in housework or childcare activities, which are usually 421 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,159 Speaker 1: labor intensive efforts. Fathers, by contrast, tend to engage in 422 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: other types of activities when they multitask at home, such 423 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: as talking to a third person who are engaging in 424 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,719 Speaker 1: self care. These are less burden sum experiences. So this 425 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: is very interesting to me because I do think that 426 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,880 Speaker 1: the cultural norm has informed the behavior. And as someone 427 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: who is a working mom and a multitasker, I guess 428 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,479 Speaker 1: with the capital M, you do kind of feel that 429 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,400 Speaker 1: sense of it. I don't feel that I'm good at it, 430 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: but some of these things are very wrote and they're 431 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: very physical when they're easy to do, but it still 432 00:21:58,040 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: takes a lot of energy out of you. Yeah, that 433 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: makes sense. I found it interesting with some of the 434 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: older anthropology kind of arguments about this were that if 435 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,919 Speaker 1: you go back to um Our, most ancient days, you 436 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: had men who had to go out and do one thing. 437 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,120 Speaker 1: Supposedly they like, we were hunter gatherers, So the men 438 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: went out to hunt down and kill particular animals, and 439 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: then the women gathered things and looked after the children 440 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: and kept the fire going and all that, which I 441 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 1: guess kind of as an idea, it's kind of interesting, 442 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: but but but apparently holds no real real sway over there. 443 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 1: And see, the thing about that too, is that not 444 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: only are they keeping their tending the children the fire, 445 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: but they're also foraging because most of the diet is 446 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,360 Speaker 1: predicated on their ability to go out and find foods 447 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:46,680 Speaker 1: there that are non meat, right, and then also the 448 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,199 Speaker 1: men like and where again going with sort of a 449 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,439 Speaker 1: non historical, vague idea of the past when we're discussing this. 450 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: But but yeah, if you're going out to hunt an animal, 451 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: it's not quite as simple as just one single task. 452 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:03,880 Speaker 1: You're having to deal with with weapon crafting up, weapon upkeep. 453 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,119 Speaker 1: Even if that weapon is just like a sharpened stone 454 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,439 Speaker 1: or a bone, you know, still you've gotta keep it 455 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,360 Speaker 1: in good repair. You're having to possibly track animals and 456 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: and if you're doing it on foot, you're talking about 457 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: a rather labor intensive hunt there. So I don't even 458 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: buy that the hunting for food in in the in 459 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:25,680 Speaker 1: our ancient in the ancient times would have been a single, 460 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 1: one track mind kind of a deal, right, right, So 461 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: what I'm proposing is I think that man canal task 462 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: just as well as women, but perhaps there's some cultural 463 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: stuff going on there. However, we have to talk about 464 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:39,920 Speaker 1: the corpus colusum, because apparently in women are not Apparently, 465 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: we know for sure that this part of the brain, 466 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:47,439 Speaker 1: which handles communication between the two hemispheres, is actually wider 467 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: than in men's brains, which has made some people wonder 468 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:56,120 Speaker 1: whether or not um this helps to synthesize information better 469 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: in women, to communicate better in both sides of the hemispheres, 470 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: But we don't have any really big conclusive evidence that 471 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: says this allows women to multitask better. Along the same lines, 472 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,479 Speaker 1: there was a French National Institute of Health and Medical 473 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: Research study and they took thirty two right handed people 474 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: and they were asked to match some letters. And of course, 475 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,959 Speaker 1: given this the study, the brain, of course we had 476 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: fr fm R eyes loaded up as well. Scanning the brains, 477 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: seeing what's flowing around, what kind of activity has taken place. 478 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: And it's also important that there was money on the line. 479 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: There's a financial reward for the participants in this study 480 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: to match things up correctly. All right, So during this task, 481 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: both him hemispheres of the brains medial frontal cortex, which 482 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 1: is involved in motivation, lights up. All right. Then the 483 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: researchers shook it up. They introduced a second task where 484 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: the subjects had to match like upper case letters in 485 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: addition to matching like lower case letters with separately occuring 486 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,880 Speaker 1: reward tallies. So, uh, what they found was the subjects 487 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: brains divided the two reward bay skulls between the two 488 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: sides of the region of the brain. So what what 489 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: they ended up finding here was that, okay, the area 490 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: of the brain that was highly active and the observed 491 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: multitasking behavior was the was the front o polar cortex, 492 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: which organizes pending goals while the brain completes another task, 493 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:21,879 Speaker 1: and this is especially well developed in humans. But they 494 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,679 Speaker 1: also the the the scientists also argued that humans have 495 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 1: this problem though, of deciding between more than two alternatives, 496 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: and a possible explanation so they cannot keep in mind 497 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: and switch back and forth between three or more alternatives. 498 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: So we're basically A or D. If you certainly A, 499 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: B and C, then then the cognitive load increases dramatically. Okay, 500 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,920 Speaker 1: so again there's like that switch on the track, right, yeah, 501 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,440 Speaker 1: either or Yeah. This was particularly interesting when I think two. 502 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: One of my favorite authors are Scott Baker has a 503 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,240 Speaker 1: series of fantasy books. I mentioned them before. The first 504 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: one in the series is The Darkness That Comes Before 505 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: and It. He has this whole He himself is uh 506 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: heavy into psychology and neuroscience and weaves all that through 507 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: this book. Even though the book deals with with magic 508 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: and and and the like and their sorcerers, he's very 509 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: into the neuroscience of how that works, and particularly there's 510 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:21,720 Speaker 1: a there's a type of magic in the books called 511 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: the nosis, and it's revealed eventually in the books that 512 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: it works by holding two different interpretations of the same 513 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,959 Speaker 1: spell chant in your mind at the same time. So 514 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:38,120 Speaker 1: so being able to to work these acts of magic 515 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:42,240 Speaker 1: involves the cognitive process of holding two things in your mind, 516 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: two meanings that are parallel, at the same time. And 517 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,119 Speaker 1: in the books there's a there's a special character. H 518 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: got a superhuman that emerges who's able to work even 519 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: greater works of magic because he can hold three different 520 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: ideas in his mind at the same time. So I 521 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,479 Speaker 1: find that that could be a really interesting take on 522 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,199 Speaker 1: magic by combining it with sort of what we know 523 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: through neuroscience about our ability to multitask. Is like mental 524 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: scrolls of of magic in our minds that we're trying 525 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: to Yeah, yeah, multitasking is a kind of magic for that. 526 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: All right, um, we're gonna take a quick break, and 527 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: when we get back, we're going to talk about the 528 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: cognitive and physiological costs of multitasking, like a short term 529 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:41,200 Speaker 1: memory for instance. All Right, we're back, and we're gonna 530 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 1: look a little bit more at multitasking and what all 531 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: of this multitasking at least these attempts at multitasking due 532 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 1: to our minds. Okay, So we talked about bottlenecking, we 533 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,119 Speaker 1: we talked about this ability to keep some things in 534 00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:57,239 Speaker 1: our minds. Well, it turns out that, of course it's 535 00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: all has to do with short term memory and committing 536 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 1: short term memory into long term memory if you can. Um, so, 537 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: of course, if you're multitasking, if you're um, let's say 538 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: you're studying for an exam, but you're listening to music 539 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 1: or you're watching TV. Turns out these short term memory 540 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: is going to be taxed and you're probably not going 541 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: to get a lot of recall out of that experience. 542 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,439 Speaker 1: Um Our short term memories can only store between five 543 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: and nine things at once, so when information doesn't make 544 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: it into short term memory, it can't be transferred into 545 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: long term memory for recall later. Okay, that's why if 546 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: you're watching TV while you're studying, it's not going to 547 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 1: be as effective. So if you can't recall it, you 548 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,239 Speaker 1: can't use it now. I did also find them one 549 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: of our our studies we're looking at. They did argue that, 550 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 1: you know, it depends on what you're doing. Because I 551 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: was very concerned about the music thing because I listen 552 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: to music all the time. When it works, I was 553 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,200 Speaker 1: started thinking, well, maybe I'm doing all this wrong and 554 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 1: then I need to cut out the music. But they 555 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: did say that for some people, listening to music while 556 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: working actually makes them more creative because they're using different 557 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: car that it functions, which I think lines up well 558 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: with what I've sort of observed before. And if I'm 559 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 1: doing something that really requires me to think that I 560 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: can't listen to anything the lyrics in it. Right. We 561 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: talked about that before that lyrics sometimes can mess with 562 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: what you're trying to do, right, because you hear those 563 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: messages and trying to do language, and then I'm also 564 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: I'm also absorbing language. Then then that's going to hit 565 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 1: both of those, uh, those categories. Right. But you know, 566 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: so if you're listening to something instrumental in your researching 567 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: or trying to learn something or studying, then that should 568 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: be fined. Research shows that people use different areas of 569 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: the brain for learning and storing new information when they 570 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: are distracted. So brain scans of people who are distracted 571 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: or multitasking show activity in the stray item, and this 572 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: is a region of the brain involved in learning new skills. 573 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: Brain scans of people who are not distracted show activity 574 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: in the hippocampus, and this is a region involved in 575 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: storing and recalling information. So again it points to this 576 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: idea that if you are unit asking, if you're studying, 577 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: if you're researching, your doing this one thing and then 578 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: you're engaging your hippocampus more. And that's good because then 579 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: you're storing those memories and your recall for that material 580 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 1: is going to be better later. Now, another thing that 581 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: multitasking effects is stress and stress levels. And UH professor 582 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: Gloria Marks April study and we talked about this in 583 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 1: the last podcast. UM. This this Landmark study. She found 584 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,720 Speaker 1: that after only twenty minutes of interrupted performance, people reported 585 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: significantly higher stress, frustration, workload, effort, and pressure. So it's 586 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: like this low lying level of stress that people put 587 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: upon themselves when they are multitasking. And UH psychologist David 588 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: Meyer at the University of Michigan found that multitasking contributes 589 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: to the release of stress hormones and adrenaline, which can 590 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: cause of course, we know that long term health problems 591 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: if not controlled, and it also contributes to the loss 592 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 1: of short term memory. So what's you're the The sort 593 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: of story that comes out here is that if you're 594 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: multitasking throughout the day and you're doing a lot, what 595 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: you find is that you've got that low level of 596 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: anxiety building because it always feels like those loops or 597 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: open those loops that we talked about, the tasks that 598 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: we need to complete, and that also kind of falls 599 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: back into some of the stereotypes about say busy moms, 600 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: you know, being kind of frazzled, or anybody that's really 601 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: got a lot on their plate being a bit frazzled 602 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: because they are doing so many things and there's so 603 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: many loops open that it's having it's take an impact 604 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: on their short term memory and their ability to perform. 605 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: And um, you know, in the in the case of 606 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:38,000 Speaker 1: say studying for an exam or researching, if you are multitesting, 607 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: you're trying to do a deep dive into a topic, 608 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,239 Speaker 1: and you're switching between tasks and you know in an 609 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: hour you've maybe gleaned only ten minutes of that research. 610 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:48,960 Speaker 1: That's not a deep dive. That's not a lot of 611 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: time to think in depth about any one thing. So 612 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 1: of course it behooves you to try to unitask in 613 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: those instances where it's really important to commit that to 614 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: memory or you really need to come to trade on something. Yeah. 615 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: This also leads us into this area UM referred to 616 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,800 Speaker 1: as a tension deficit traite, which I found really interesting. Now, 617 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:12,480 Speaker 1: this is not attention deficit, uh disorder disorder. This is 618 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: attention deficit. There's a trait that emerges due to the 619 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: environment that you've put yourself in. So you're putting yourself 620 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: in this environment where there's all the stimuli coming at you. 621 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,960 Speaker 1: There's all there, all these different tasks that you've you've 622 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 1: put before yourself. You're multitasking or trying to and it 623 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 1: generates basically the symptoms of attention deficit disorder. I think 624 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: what's interesting about this is that again it's um, it's 625 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 1: something in our environment, and it's something that we condition 626 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: ourselves into. Now it's a pretty new idea. We've been 627 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: studying attention deficit disorder for for years and years, but 628 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: this idea of attention deficit traite really comes out of 629 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: a two thousand five Harvard Business Review article Overloaded Circuits, 630 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: Why smart people under Perform? And this was by Glenn Wilson, 631 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: the guy who who wrote the study and UH and 632 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: and and most of these ideas really hinge back to 633 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 1: his UH, his his UH studies regarding attention deficit as 634 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: it emerges again as a as as a symptom of 635 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: environmental stimuli. Yeah, and he did the study for Hewlett 636 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: Packard um to look at this productivity of multitasking. What 637 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: I think is cool that he just not so cool 638 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,479 Speaker 1: But interesting is that he discovered is that the average 639 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: workers functioning i Q um a temporary qualitative of state here, 640 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: and we're talking about drops ten points when multitasking, and 641 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: that is more than double the four point drop it 642 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: occurs when someone smokes marijuana. Wow. So I mean that really, 643 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,880 Speaker 1: especially for anyone out there in in a management position, 644 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: I mean it really should make you think twice about 645 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: putting new responsibilities on an employer because you're basically taking 646 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: a notch out of their i Q with with each task, 647 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: until you just reduced them to a a just a 648 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: mumbling ball of goog with a whole just spreadsheets to 649 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: fill up. Yes, just you can hear the stress and 650 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,200 Speaker 1: buzzing off of that person. Yeah um. But you know, 651 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,719 Speaker 1: of course that leads to this idea of how can 652 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:11,439 Speaker 1: you best rein this in and manage it? And there's 653 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: something called the rule Uh. This says that the work 654 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: you do gives eight of the impact and effectiveness. So 655 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:23,040 Speaker 1: you focus on identifying the of your task that are 656 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,359 Speaker 1: really effective and then you do them one at a time. 657 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 1: I tend to, I guess I tend to sort of 658 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,319 Speaker 1: do maybe a take on that where since I'm better 659 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:31,959 Speaker 1: in the morning, and I guess it makes sense because 660 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: I haven't had much time to deplete my cognitive abilities. Uh. 661 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:39,520 Speaker 1: Pick the things that are most important and require the 662 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: the most amount of thought and creativity to do those first, 663 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: and then do the other things later. That's the smart 664 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: way to approach it. But of course, as we found 665 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,040 Speaker 1: in the last podcast that people usually do the the inverse. 666 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: They typically um kind of distract themselves and multitask earlier 667 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 1: in the day and then they battened down the hatches 668 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: and concentrate later in the day. But you're right, that's 669 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:05,200 Speaker 1: the way to do it is in the morning, is 670 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:08,000 Speaker 1: to unit task and then multitask later in the day 671 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: because you have more energy in the morning and you're 672 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 1: fresh and you haven't become ego depleted by all the 673 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: choices of that day. So there you have it. Multitasking, Um, 674 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 1: the single track mind. Multitasking is magic. All of these 675 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,319 Speaker 1: various ways of looking at it, which it really did 676 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 1: force me to to reevaluate the way I approach all 677 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:31,239 Speaker 1: the things I have to do in my life and uh, 678 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: and the and and really how we function as human beings. UM. 679 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,320 Speaker 1: But of course none of this is necessarily new because 680 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 1: we've got people have been figuring this out for for ages. Uh. 681 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,919 Speaker 1: In fact, back in seven in the seventeen forties, Lord 682 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,920 Speaker 1: Chesterfield offered the following advice. He said, quote, there is 683 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,319 Speaker 1: time enough for everything in the course of the day 684 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: if you do but one thing at a time, But 685 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: there is not time enough in the year if you 686 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:03,319 Speaker 1: will do two things at a time. So Lord Chesterfield 687 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,640 Speaker 1: knew the the importance of really focusing in on a 688 00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:09,920 Speaker 1: single task, and he knew that you'd have to be 689 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:14,239 Speaker 1: a wizard to do two things at once. You know. Purportedly, 690 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 1: even Albert Einstein weighed in on this, and this is 691 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 1: from a Scientific American article about multitesting. He is purported 692 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,439 Speaker 1: to have said, any man who can drive safely while 693 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,120 Speaker 1: kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss 694 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:31,759 Speaker 1: the attention it deserves. Yeah, that rogue, That makes sense. 695 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, I mean it just gets down to 696 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:34,919 Speaker 1: if you do try and do two things at once, 697 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,839 Speaker 1: you're not gonna do either thing. Well, all right, well 698 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 1: let's uh, let's call over the road but now and 699 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 1: get a little listener and mail. First off, we heard 700 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: from Gregory who's responding to um some stuff I recently 701 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 1: said about pugs the dog breed, because I used to 702 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 1: think of the pug is just kind of this um 703 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: amusing but are ultimately kind of worthless breed. That it 704 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,239 Speaker 1: was just kind of bread into a corner physiologically just 705 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 1: wasn't capable of much. But then I saw a helper 706 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,239 Speaker 1: dog that was a pug at the train station. So 707 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,440 Speaker 1: Gregory writes in and says, Robert, Robert, Robert about pugs. 708 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:10,719 Speaker 1: My father in law had a beef farm and his 709 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,200 Speaker 1: dog a pug. It became one of his farm helpers. Terminator, 710 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,840 Speaker 1: that's the dog's name. May have been tiny, but he 711 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 1: was one of the best dogs I've ever seen to 712 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,879 Speaker 1: help direct the cows. Since Terminator was so small, Uh, 713 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:23,920 Speaker 1: he never got stepped on or kicked, and he was 714 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:25,799 Speaker 1: never made to help, but he liked to do it. 715 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,760 Speaker 1: As soon as he saw Tom get get the barn closed, 716 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:31,640 Speaker 1: term was at the door, jumping and turning circles waiting 717 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:33,719 Speaker 1: for the door to open. I think we were all 718 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 1: shocked the first time we saw him in action, but 719 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 1: he was tiny but impressive. So that little sip it 720 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,880 Speaker 1: comes to us from from Gregory, that was very interesting. 721 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:46,120 Speaker 1: And then we also heard from our listener Marta Um 722 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,560 Speaker 1: and she writes it and says, uh me again from Portugal, 723 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:53,120 Speaker 1: just to quit comment on Your Walls podcast. I am 724 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:56,360 Speaker 1: a big fan of Murakami, the Japanese writer h but 725 00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:58,239 Speaker 1: he has a book that was quite hard for me 726 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,200 Speaker 1: to get into, Hard Boiled Wonderland for the End of 727 00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:04,160 Speaker 1: the World. It's quite fantastic about a guy whose brain 728 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,600 Speaker 1: is being experimented on, and it describes two parallel realities, 729 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,239 Speaker 1: one of his actual life developing and one of what 730 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: is going on inside his brain at the same time, 731 00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:15,280 Speaker 1: the inner world. But this is a very real world 732 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:18,400 Speaker 1: comprised within a long wall. The character arrives at this 733 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:21,719 Speaker 1: city and as he walks past the gates, he is 734 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 1: forced to leave his shadow there, for it is that 735 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,799 Speaker 1: it is the link to his real life and his 736 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,000 Speaker 1: memories of that life. The story then develops inside the city, 737 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 1: and the presence of the wall is quite amazing. Um omnipotent, unbreached, unbreakable, 738 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:38,400 Speaker 1: and actual limit between the two worlds. He has confronted 739 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:40,120 Speaker 1: with the fact that there is no way to go 740 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,239 Speaker 1: back through the wall or the gates, so he needs 741 00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:46,000 Speaker 1: to find another way. No spoilers, I'll just drop here Anyway, 742 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: this is the strangest wall I could remember. Thanks again, Marta. Well, 743 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,359 Speaker 1: I like that dropping the shadow as a narrative technique, 744 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,160 Speaker 1: you know, because then then that's sort of like a 745 00:38:54,920 --> 00:39:00,960 Speaker 1: was the movie um about Dreaming with Leo DiCaprio, Leo 746 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:05,960 Speaker 1: like I know him. Oh you're talking about the Christopher 747 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:08,920 Speaker 1: Nolan film Inception. Yeah, you know how they knew when 748 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:10,880 Speaker 1: they were dreaming and they're in reality not in reality 749 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:12,800 Speaker 1: they had the turning Top. But I like this idea 750 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 1: of not seeing your shadow and realizing that you're in 751 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:18,680 Speaker 1: this altar universe. Yeah, that sounds really. It also reminds 752 00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:20,759 Speaker 1: me of a book I've not read. You, I really 753 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:22,279 Speaker 1: want to See the City read The City in the 754 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,919 Speaker 1: City by China Melville. But and I think it maybe 755 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:29,040 Speaker 1: falls along similar lines. But Murracami is great. I haven't 756 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,680 Speaker 1: read this particular book. Um have you? If you read 757 00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:35,080 Speaker 1: any more comments, I haven't. Um Cough on the Shore 758 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:37,839 Speaker 1: was a big one. That one, the wind Up Bird 759 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:42,000 Speaker 1: Chronicle both along but very much in a I think 760 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:44,080 Speaker 1: maybe the And I'm not no expert by any means 761 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:47,680 Speaker 1: in Japanese literature, uh, certainly, but certainly there there seems 762 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:50,560 Speaker 1: to be sort of a long form aspect of his 763 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 1: work that maybe doesn't doesn't job immediately with with a 764 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:59,600 Speaker 1: Western reader, but but it's but he's a great writer. 765 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: It's it's very satisfying, very imaginative. One of the books 766 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,120 Speaker 1: had talking cats in it, and uh, but then also 767 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:08,240 Speaker 1: one of the books had a man being skinned alive, 768 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:12,120 Speaker 1: so he kind of it gives you various aspects of 769 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 1: like every day minosa plus some imaginative almost kind of 770 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:19,040 Speaker 1: cute stuff. And then also there's a there's there's room 771 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:22,600 Speaker 1: for wacky and or horrible happenings as well. So glad 772 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:26,399 Speaker 1: guts in Kawai. Yeah, yeah, kind of nice. So hey, 773 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:28,280 Speaker 1: if you would like to reach out to us and 774 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,440 Speaker 1: chat with us a little bit about Murakami, about walls, 775 00:40:31,719 --> 00:40:35,600 Speaker 1: about uh, multitasking. Are you a multitasker? Do you think 776 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,680 Speaker 1: you're a multitasker? What happens when you try and multitask? Uh? 777 00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:41,239 Speaker 1: And then what happens when you were able to set 778 00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:43,200 Speaker 1: everything aside and focus on that one thing in your 779 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:45,080 Speaker 1: life or you know, you can have multiple things in 780 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:47,279 Speaker 1: your life that you can really get into a flow 781 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,320 Speaker 1: state with. Let us know, we'd love to hear from you. 782 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:52,239 Speaker 1: You can find us on Facebook, you can find us 783 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:54,200 Speaker 1: on Tumbler. On both of those, we go by the 784 00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 1: handles stuff to Blow your Mind, and if you go 785 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,799 Speaker 1: to Twitter, you'll find us with the handle blow the Mind. 786 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,000 Speaker 1: And you can always drop us a line at blow 787 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:10,480 Speaker 1: the Mind at discovery dot com. For more on this 788 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:13,160 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, Is it How Stuff Works 789 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:18,200 Speaker 1: dot com