Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Multi-tasking


I am really curious about this, and have been for ages.

I am actually surprised that I haven't tackled this topic earlier.

As someone whose capabilities of 'multi-tasking' extend no further than talking and driving at the same time, I admit that I feel incredibly inadequate sometimes.

Why?

Because women are supposed to be these queens of multi-tasking.
And I am not.

So naturally, to appease my hamster, I have to ask two questions:

1. Is multi-tasking not simply a myth created by people with a vested interest? (I'll explain!)

2. Is multi-tasking actually necessary?


Yes, I am knocking something I am no good at.
Predctable.
:-)

But...jokes aside, I am really interested in this.

What is actually meant by multi-tasking?
Men can also drive and talk, so does that mean that men can multi-task too?
(I am not being intentionally dense - I honestly do not understand this term very well).



In one sense, I can see that (in answer to question 2) it is useful for carers of small children to 'have eyes at the back of their heads', so to speak. This is one realm where I think 'multi-tasking' is indeed a necessary evil.
And given that in most cases, the care of small children is a task of women (mothers, nannies, elementary school teachers, au pairs, etc.), I can see that one needs to be able to somehow give attention to several things at once, including keeping a watchful eye.

'It only takes a second'...where small children are concerned...

The case of 3 year old Jamie Bulger who was kidnepped and later tortured and killed by two ten year olds many years ago. The biggest and scariest lesson I learned from that case was....It only takes a second.

A child drowning in the family swimming pool. A frantic mother repeating over and over again: my back was turned for literally one second...

And so on...



But aside from dealing with (unpredictable) small children, what are the other benefits of 'multi-tasking'?


And now I am back to question 1.

Why has multi-tasking in the last few decades become such a big deal?
Is this a sideways attempt at re-inforcing the notion that 'women can do it all, have it all'?
Forgive me if this is a bit of a stretch. I have grown predictably suspicious of anything that might have 'feminism' associated with it.

As I build towards formulating my own thoughts on the evoltuion of feminism, as commissioned by PVW, I am learning to recognise certain lamp-posts and red flags along the way.

'What a man can do, a woman can do better'. I grew up with this phrase in mainstream media.
Is muti-tasking a cousin of this statement?


But something else bothers me.

If multi-tasking is so necessary, why aren't men clamouring to contest the idea that women can multi-task better than them?

Are men not bothered?
Or do men accept this as 'women's work' and therefore not contesting this notion?
Is this a form of chivalry that says, 'let them have this one'?

I really don't know.
But I am curious enough about it.

There is some science to suggest that multi-tasking could indeed be 'women's work'.
Men may have bigger brains per square metre of body surface area, but women have more 'connections' or synapses which ensure that several activities can be performed all at the same time.
I don't contest this.

But...is it necessary to do several things at once? Indeed, is it desirable other than for the above - care of small children at risk of coming to grief if someone does not have their eye on them?

Wouldn't it be better to concentrate on one thing at a time?
In the case of driving, I guess it would, if we were talking about driving and texting, for instance...


Also, is there a benefit to the 'multi-tasker'?
Or just stress and hassle as the picture below seems to suggest?



Is this whole post just sour grapes on my part because I can't do two things at once?
:-)

Enlighten me.
















10 comments:

metak said...

Funny how you describe multi-tasking in regard to mothers, nannies...
That's not it. That's just plain old female paranoia at work, running all kinds of worst case scenarios in the background. That's also why modern women are so brainwashed, and they childproof their children.

"Why has multi-tasking in the last few decades become such a big deal?"
This one is simple. As masters want to get the most out of their slaves that was the next logical step. After increasing working hours, cutting down lunch time at work, introducing women into the work force and cutting down wages in half for everyone, now they want to forbid any talk at work,... then introduce multi-tasking to give them even more to do, and they (women) will love it because they'll believe they're better than men... bla bla..

Women like to repeat things, over and over again, without any actual evidence to support their claims and eventually, the lie becomes "truth". At least for some of them.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Joseph Goebbels

Feminism was used as a stepping stone towards police state, that's headed towards total dictatorship.

BTW: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2223137/Men-ARE-better-multitasking-women-Swedish-researchers-claim.html ;-)

Spacetraveller said...

Metak,

"Funny how you describe multi-tasking in regard to mothers, nannies..."

It was the only useful function of 'multi-tasking' I could think of!

But yes, I also see your other point that some women can sometimes use an extreme example to debunk a general argument. Guilty as charged :-)

"...then introduce multi-tasking to give them even more to do, and they (women) will love it because they'll believe they're better than men... bla bla.."

And this is one of the follies of feminism indeed. Women fighting for the chance to do something that we weren't meant to be doing in the first place (and frankly men don't want to really do it precisely because it is hard work with not many rewards except self-fulfilment) and yet, it doesn't really provide the self-affirmation that one would expect to get after such a feat.

So it all seems a bit pointless to me now, on reflection. Hence my question: is multi-tasking actually necessary? Is anyone getting a prize for being the best multi-tasker in town??
:-/

About lies becoming the truth if repeated many times, I am intigued by the Daily Mail article you cite.

Interesting that that article found that it is men who are indeed the better multi-taskers.

I for one know that I am a rubbish multi-tasker. So it doesn't matter how many times I am told that women are better at this - I know it just isn't true of me. Or perhaps I am just an exception among women.

And now I am really dying to hear from brilliant female multi-taskers, to really put me in my place :-)


PVW said...

Hi, ST, I must say that the idea of multi-tasking is not something I even think of. Do I ever do it? I don't know, can't say. Perhaps I do, but I don't make a big deal out of it. It is just part of life. So I'll be doing my work at home, while dinner is cooking. No big deal.

So if it is something, is it part of a feminist trap, again, I can't say, and thanks for the recognition in prodding you to formulate your own ideas on feminism.

If anything, multitasking, as far as I hear of it, affects everyone, including men. It need not be doing two things at once. It can be about just not having boundaries anymore between when different things are done.

So the father who is at his child's game but has the "crackberry" on, is multitasking in my view. It is the same for the dad who brings work to the dinner table. It is the same for the moms I see at the gym who have the android phones on as they exercise, or the colleagues in the faculty meeting who are on the android phone while they should be listening.

Spacetraveller said...

PVW,

Yes, I agree that it really shouldn't be something one needs to even worry about...
Except of course, it has become an issue, what with the whole 'women can multi-task and men can't' business that is a favourite of the male-bashing media.


It is one of those subjects that rationally, you feel is best left undiscussed...until one day you suddenly ask yourself: Is this not more sinister than I thought it was?
I have learned to look for misandry in unusual places...
Maybe this is one of them!

Am I overthonking this, as usual?
(In other words, am I afflicted with the curse of the introvert? Why won't I let this one go, lol?)

dannyfrom04 said...

i'm well aware of what's behind this post. but i shan't mention it publicly.

women have evolved to multitask more as a necessity to modern living. most mums are single mums, so they have no choice but to multi task. the opposite applies to men.

i CANNOT focus on more than one thing at a time. seriously.

and let me tell you, your hamster took HGH, meth, and anabolic steroids for this post. lol.

PVW said...

ST: Except of course, it has become an issue, what with the whole 'women can multi-task and men can't' business that is a favourite of the male-bashing media.

It is one of those subjects that rationally, you feel is best left undiscussed...until one day you suddenly ask yourself: Is this not more sinister than I thought it was?
I have learned to look for misandry in unusual places...
Maybe this is one of them!

Me: I can't say I have seen any of those stories. But even with that, I don't tend to look for/see misandry everywhere, and the same applies to misogyny, I am just not hypervigilant about looking for these things.

PVW said...

@ST--Off topic--I sent you an email...

Spacetraveller said...

Danny,

"women have evolved to multitask more as a necessity to modern living. most mums are single mums, so they have no choice but to multi task. the opposite applies to men. "

Very good point. Certainly having to look after children (especially on your own) is a good motivation to learn to 'multi-task'.

But I still don't get why the need to brag so voraciously about it.

I am pretty sure you do know why I go on about these things...
:-)

Hey! My hamster hasn't been resurrected in a long while - leave my furry friend out of this...
:-)

PVW,

Hypervigilance can be a blessing...or a curse.

Right now, I see it very much as a blessing.
I hope when it starts being a curse, I recognise that too...


Thanks for your email. I responded.

dannyfrom04 said...

women multi task because they need to. a woman attending to house and kids needs to do many things at once.

men are hunters. we need to focus on a single thing (quarry) to harvest the prize.

Spacetraveller said...

I agree, Danny.

Note the absence of men claiming they can 'focus really well' in the media. :-)

I note that whenever there is an article about some woman's 'multi-tasking' abilities (which in itself is usually of the category 'non-news'), there is an article not far behind spoofing the first one.

So I didn't have long to wait after this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2275326/Una-Healy-continues-motherly-duties-cradles-Aoife-Belle-photo-shoot.html#axzz2Jf8RYumz

It was swiftly followed by this inevitable spoof:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2276042/P-Diddy-shares-picture-getting-tattoo-AND-haircut-time.html#axzz2Jf8RYumz

I think even the mainstream media is starting to caricaturise itself...