Friday, September 26, 2008
Multitasking has been used for decades to describe the parallel processing abilities of computers. At the height of human arrogance, we have now coined it to describe the hurry, bustle and agitation that now rule over most people’s lifestyles. We wear our “multitasking badges” proudly, fancying ourselves the ultimate survivors of the 21st century!
But Dr. Mercola Reveals That Multitasking Isn’t What It’s Cut Out to Be!
- Studies have shown the danger of using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving.
- In the business world, time management is a perennial problem as workplace distractions (an offshoot of a multitasking mindset) are on the rise.
- The electronic din is now invading every nook and cranny of our everyday lives – we may turn out to be more informed. But are we gaining wisdom when we focus on our goals and tasks with crumbs of attention?
Dr. Mercola Explains the Value of “Attention”
When discussing “multitasking”, we are actually talking about attention:
- The capacity to pay attention
- The ability to shift attention
- To decide which things are worthy of our attention
People with great achievements often say they owe their success to a sharply honed skill for paying attention. When Isaac Newton was asked about his “genius” he answered that if he had made any discoveries, it was “owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.”
Dr. Mercola Agrees with William James (the Great Psychologist)
To James, steady attention was ultimately an attribute of a mature mind, a usual state disturbed only by stress. To people a century later, that calm portrayal may seem unusual—as though illustrating a bygone era. Today’s multitasking adult may find something more similar in James’s description of the youthful mind: an “extreme mobility of the attention” that “makes the child seem to belong less to himself than to every object which happens to catch his notice.”
Are we growing in wisdom then?
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