Men and Women and Multi-tasking. A poll

In My Humble Opinion
41

I’m a pilot and the job is basically continuous multitasking if we’re using the definition that most people here are using.

While flying on instruments (in cloud or on a moonless night) and with the autopilot off I’m required to monitor/communicate on upto 3 different radios, monitor 6 primary flight instruments and numerous engine instruments, progressively fill out various bits of paperwork while monitoring the fuel situation, as well as physically fly the aircraft and plan the upcoming phases of flight.

Of course, I’m really only actively doing one thing at a time. If I want to adjust the power settings then I need to constantly look away from the engine instruments and back at the flight instruments to ensure that other activities are still going ok.

Personally I don’t feel that this is true multitasking. It is just prioritising tasks and applying full attention for small periods of time as appropriate. It is my opinion that humans aren’t capable of true multitasking.

Even something that appears to be true multitasking such as singing while playing guitar isn’t really. I think the brain turns the two tasks into one single task.

Probably the closest thing I can do that would come close to true multitasking would be playing piano or guitar while holding an unrelated conversation with someone. However, if the musical component is something that I can’t do fully automatically then the conversation stops. I physically can’t talk while concentrating on the music. Interestingly, I can think unrelated thoughts quite freely, just can’t put them into action.

42

Male by the way.

And more on music, I can play a complicated guitar line while singing, but it’s no different (IMO) from your left and right hands doing slightly different things on a piano. Musically it all goes together to become one task. And you can’t really do it if any two parts require serious concentration at the same time.

43

Oh, yeah, I play guitar and sing at the same time, and as others have said, it kind of merges into one thing. I notice that I kind of get into a zone when I do it, kind of like accessing the upper memory and not the front-and-center consciousness.

44

Can I multitask?

It depends. Some might call it multitasking, whereas others would call it “getting distracted while doing the dishes and washing the counter, then realizing I left the water on and deciding it might be a good idea to finish the - hey, the fridge looks a little cluttered.”