From the book Present Shock
Digiphrenia – the way our media and technologies encourage us to be in more than one place at the same time.
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| Mr. Multitasking by ~Windfeld on deviantARTwindfeld.deviantart.com |
Interesting concept as humans are the only ones affected by time. We feel so pressed to do so much so fast all the time. We forget that technology has no time constraints. We are trying to adapt to the life of technology instead of merging technology to fit into our cycle and perception of time. Also, research shows that the brain cannot multitask. You can only focus on one thing at a time. Trying to find that proper balance of real world and technology can be difficult.
Later in the book he talks about multitasking and the studies that show that humans cannot do more than one thing at a time. I know I personally find this hard to believe, but when I think about my productive days I am not multi-tasking. I am in a groove where I focus on one thing at a time. How many times have you been on the phone while watching TV or browsing the internet. The phone call gets stale and you get intrigued by the other activity and then you forget you were on the phone and have that moment of panic where you cannot recall what was being shared and pray they don’t ask you a question about what they were talking about?
Exactly my point!
And yet continue to try to do it every single day.
As Douglas Rushkoff states on page 74
If we could only catch up with the wave of information, we feel, we would at last be in the now. This is a false goal. For not only have our devices outpaced us, they don’t even reflect a here and now that may constitute any legitimate sort of present tense.
Thoughts?
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