Life in the Tech Lane

The Encyclopedia Britannica blog site has a series of articles on multitasking that are worth reading in full. Here, for instance, is a piece by Howard Rheingold entitled “Is Multitasking Evil? Or Are Most of Us Illiterate?” that asks for a middle ground in the discussion:

“Could it be that instead of a stark choice between the frantic pursuit of getting more done in less time at one extreme or demonizing multitasking at the other end of the spectrum that there is an as-yet undocumented literacy in the relatively unexplored middle, a partially mental and partially technical skill at deploying the appropriate attentional style with the appropriate media at the appropriate time?

“Or is multitasking unequivocally the mental equivalent of bingeing, an addiction to fragmentation, a seductive waste of mind we should discard, a habit that all decent people should eschew and discourage?

“The overwhelming tone of contemporary discussion about this topic, buttressed by a growing body of empirical evidence, seems to favor the strong point of view that people today, and particularly those darn kids today, are driven to distraction, attracted by flashy and superficial media gimmickry, hypnotized and addicted, fragmented, disordered.

“I wonder: Is something valuable to be found in the deep gulf between frenetic and hyperfocused? I wonder. I don’t yet claim to know — is something valuable to be found in the deep gulf between frenetic and hyperfocused?”

And here is Nicholas Carr, speaking on the subject:

“The ability to multitask is one of the essential strengths of our infinitely amazing brains. We wouldn’t want to lose it. But as neurobiologists and psychologists have shown, and as Maggie Jackson has carefully documented, we pay a price when we multitask. Because the depth of our attention governs the depth of our thought and our memory, when we multitask we sacrifice understanding and learning. We do more but know less. And the more tasks we juggle and the more quickly we switch between them, the higher the cognitive price we pay.

“The problem today is not that we multitask. We’ve always multitasked. The problem is that we’re always in multitasking mode. The natural busyness of our lives is being amplified by the networked gadgets that constantly send us messages and alerts, bombard us with other bits of important and trivial information, and generally interrupt the train of our thought. The data barrage never lets up. As a result, we devote ever less time to the calmer, more attentive modes of thinking that have always given richness to our intellectual lives and our culture — the modes of thinking that involve concentration, contemplation, reflection, introspection. The less we practice these habits of mind, the more we risk losing them altogether.

“There’s evidence that, as Howard Rheingold suggests, we can train ourselves to be better multitaskers, to shift our attention even more swiftly and fluidly among contending chores and stimuli. And that will surely help us navigate the fast-moving stream of modern life. But improving our ability to multitask, neuroscience tells us in no uncertain terms, will never return to us the depth of understanding that comes with attentive, single-minded thought. You can improve your agility at multitasking, but you will never be able to multitask and engage in deep thought at the same time.”

And Maggie Jackson, too, writing here on “The Virtues of Attention”:

“Our understanding of the mechanics of attention is new. For centuries, no one quite knew how we concentrated, or stayed alert. But scientific discoveries from the past few decades have allowed us to begin to decode how attention works, and even how it develops. Intriguingly, scientists also are beginning to discover that attention can be trained. A growing number of experimental techniques, from meditation to computer-based exercises and behavioral therapies, are being shown to bolster attention. Such findings could in time revolutionize parenting, education and workplace training. These discoveries further underscore clearly that our environment and our ‘habits of mind,’ in William James’s words, shape us.

“Along with strengthening our networks of attention, how can we create a “renaissance” of attention? Here are a few starting points:

“Question the values that undermine attention. Helped by influential tools that are seedbeds of societal change, we’ve built a culture over generations that prizes frenetic movement, fragmented work and instant answers. Recently, my morning paper carried a front-page story about efforts “in a new age of impatience” to create a quick-boot computer. Explained one tech executive, “It’s ridiculous to ask people to wait a couple of minutes” to start up their computer. The first hand up in the classroom, the hyper-businessman who can’t sit still, much less listen — these are markers of success in American society. Instead of venerating scattershot focus, rushed detachment, knowledge built on sound bites, we need to value whole focus, full awareness and the difficult work of knowledge creation.

“Dial Down the Climate of  Distraction. We can set the stage for focus by judiciously protecting against interruptions; by dialing down the noisy, cluttered sensory environment that we’ve come to accept as a norm; and by disciplining ourselves to sharpen our powers of attention. To help, some companies are experimenting with “white space” — the creation of physical spaces or times on the calendar for uninterrupted, unwired thinking and connection. IBM’s global practice of “ThinkFridays” began three years ago when software engineers decided to limit email, conference calls and meetings one day a week in order to focus on their creative patent work. Now, different teams and departments interpret ‘ThinkFridays’ in varied ways. This pioneering initiative is fluid, flexible and workable — more so than the rigid, top-down policies that ban e-mail one day a week.”

There is one aspect of popular digital diversions, though, that doesn’t involve dividing one’s attention between different subjects and interests. It appears here in a CNN report passed along to me by Michael Holley: “Do Digital Diaries Mess Up Your Brain?”

The story goes back and forth between neuroscientists who talk about the possibility of recording one’s experiences in full sensuous detail using digital tools. With new devices, “today’s technology creates opportunities for greater, moment-by-moment record-keeping.” Here’s one of them: “Microsoft is developing a camera that takes this further: SenseCam, which automatically captures photos of everything you see and do all day. There are even people, such as Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell, who go around with audio and video equipment to create a more complete supplement to biological memory.”

Just think of it. All you you you in every waking moment. When you reach 80 years of age, you can go back over everything you saw, heard, tasted, and felt when you were 20.  You can hold onto each precious experience — never losing it to the march of time and circumstance. Here we have single-tasking on a single subject: me.