Multitasking has been proven to be ineffective in many cases. Russell Poldrack went so far as to say it “changes the way people learn” making a person’s new knowledge “less flexible and more specialized” (qtd. in Rosen 376). The term effective, however, is used very loosely, largely depending on which exact process you wish to be effective. For instance, no one would say that a Big Mac is an essential ingredient to a person’s health. Be that as it may, it is useful in regards to satisfying a person’s hunger. Most processes have both downfalls and benefits. Multitasking is no exception.
Everyone knows what can come of being distracted on the road. In her article “The Myth of Multitasking” Rosen states, “Numerous studies have shown the sometimes-fatal …show more content…
It is true that “Today’s children and teens [are] raised with an excess of new entertainment and educational technology“ (Rosen 376) and that “These young people are among the first to grow up with an expectation of continuous connection” (Turkle 239) but is that really all there is to it? Turkle, who was at a conference at the time, illustrates, “Outside, in the hallways, the people milling around me were looking past me to virtual others. They were on their laptops and their phones...There but not there” (236). She speaks about how baffled she is that these complete strangers would rather text those they love than to speak to her or others in the room. The kind of milling about she expects may have been common in simpler days, where everyone was friends with their neighbors and had a weekly barbeque to catch up. In today’s age, though, people are more wary of those they don’t know. The reason being that of the availability of news on crime, and the quite recently acknowledged fact that bad things happen everywhere, everyday. As children, we were taught to never speak to strangers. Our parents reiterated the fact that strangers were bad, and praised us for avoiding them at all costs. This same rule may not apply as effectively as these children grow into adults, but it’s hard to drop a behavior that has been drilled into you for years simply because, as you age, people are suddenly reversing their beliefs and now expect you to introduce yourself to everyone in the room. Perhaps all of these millennials who have a sort of addiction for multitasking through social media are struggling with this exact problem. They use texting and Facebook as a type of safety bubble, distancing themselves away from the “dangerous strangers” and instead surrounding themselves with what’s familiar and
Everyone knows what can come of being distracted on the road. In her article “The Myth of Multitasking” Rosen states, “Numerous studies have shown the sometimes-fatal …show more content…
It is true that “Today’s children and teens [are] raised with an excess of new entertainment and educational technology“ (Rosen 376) and that “These young people are among the first to grow up with an expectation of continuous connection” (Turkle 239) but is that really all there is to it? Turkle, who was at a conference at the time, illustrates, “Outside, in the hallways, the people milling around me were looking past me to virtual others. They were on their laptops and their phones...There but not there” (236). She speaks about how baffled she is that these complete strangers would rather text those they love than to speak to her or others in the room. The kind of milling about she expects may have been common in simpler days, where everyone was friends with their neighbors and had a weekly barbeque to catch up. In today’s age, though, people are more wary of those they don’t know. The reason being that of the availability of news on crime, and the quite recently acknowledged fact that bad things happen everywhere, everyday. As children, we were taught to never speak to strangers. Our parents reiterated the fact that strangers were bad, and praised us for avoiding them at all costs. This same rule may not apply as effectively as these children grow into adults, but it’s hard to drop a behavior that has been drilled into you for years simply because, as you age, people are suddenly reversing their beliefs and now expect you to introduce yourself to everyone in the room. Perhaps all of these millennials who have a sort of addiction for multitasking through social media are struggling with this exact problem. They use texting and Facebook as a type of safety bubble, distancing themselves away from the “dangerous strangers” and instead surrounding themselves with what’s familiar and