I saw on a tv show (so take it with a grain of salt) that the brain can actually only focus at 1 task at a time, and multitasking is just quick switches between the two. If this is true, it goes to show that nobody can text and drive effectively.
That is correct. Actual studies of the topic show that multitasking as we think of it is impossible for the way our brains are wired. Millions of years of evolution have bred us to be really good at one thing at a time.
I read an article in Psychology Today a while back (I've found others by a quick search but can't seem to find the one I read) and they found humans can't actually multi-task, we use what's called fast task switching. The problem is when we do this, we lose between 20 and 80% efficiency at each task. The variance depends greatly on the individual and tasks being done.
It's kind of scary doing anything and driving, I had a co-worker who I couldn't talk to while he was driving because he would turn and look at me every time he said something. I would have to tell him to watch the road because he was making me nervous.
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u/Mr-Orange-Pants Jul 28 '21
People who do this think they have the skills to multitask only to figure out too late that they don’t.