Multi-Tasking and Interrupting
A reader of Eric Scheske's Wednesday column at Catholic Exchange writes, “I know a lot of people who multi-task, and can agree with you that its effects are insidious. It's impossible to hold a conversation with them, since at some point their attention is caught by someone else, and off they go. Have you noticed, BTW, the growth of interruptions in conversations? I used to think it was just common rudeness, but now wonder if it isn't, in fact, another effect of trying to focus on too many things at once. “
We have noticed that interrupting seems to have increased lately. We just figured we were getting older and more irritable about such things, but maybe it is related to the “rush rush” nature of the multi-tasker. The next time you're dealing with a person who interrupts a lot, ask them, “You don't by chance enjoy multi-tasking, do you?” See what they say and report back. It's the closest we'll come to scientific experimentation at this site. We prefer anecdotal evidence to statistics and scientific studies, the former being less susceptible to distortion.
