Multitasking: The Next Step in Human Evolution

This morning, I'm sitting here reading from pieces of paper, typing and reading on the screen, and I've got some Red Hot Chili Peppers playing in the background just to keep me awake and moving. The phone is ringing, and my VCR just started itself to tape all the TV shows I don't have time to watch. Multitasking, which perhaps used to be a special skill like a magic trick, is now something that everyone should be able to do to keep up with our fast-paced society. Emily's post states that the audience has to be disciplined in order to use the technology. As children, we learned to do tasks individually, and when we mastered them, we were able to add on more responsibilities. I think now the technology is so cutting-edge and people are so busy that they are distracted from learning the new stuff because their opportunity for education runs concurrently alongside everything else. Maybe it's because of Situated Cognition: with everything being based on associations, people are forced to lean upon what they know to get them through the unknown.