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SUPPORT ME ON PATREON\n\nWATCH MUSIC is not a GENRE VIDEOS and MORE\n\nYears ago I had a boss who told me multitasking is a myth. That it\u2019s impossible for the brain to focus on or do more than one thing at a time. I took this in as I was mentally reviewing my work schedule for the day, rubbing my thigh casually, and chewing the inside of my lip.\n\nIt was the first time I\u2019d heard anyone take this stance, but it was far from the last. More & more people started to express this opinion, usually telling me while walking down the street or eating or writing down something else. Sometimes I\u2019d disagree. Sometimes I\u2019d just nod my head. In both cases, what I really wanted to do was shout: Are you crazy?! Are you not observing yourself RIGHT NOW?! Or I wanted to take an understatedly strident tone and describe to them the last time I played a gig as a musician/vocalist.\n\nThere are two facets to this argument, and I\u2019m going to refute both of them. Let\u2019s do the second part first.\n\nI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone who will disagree that PHYSICALLY it\u2019s not only possible to multitask, we\u2019re doing it all the time \u2013 literally with every breath we take. The body is capable of doing dozens of things at once, and in fact has to to survive. On a more practical level, let\u2019s go back to the musician example. For most musicians, there are at least two appendages actively doing two different things \u2013 for drummers it can be all four. Add onto that singing, and someone can physically be doing five different things at once. Yes, they\u2019re all in tandem & in the service of one objective, but this very clearly qualifies as multitasking.\n\nI know that\u2019s low hanging fruit. It\u2019s the easy part of this refutation. I know that when people say it\u2019s impossible to multitask, what they\u2019re really saying is the brain can\u2019t focus on more than one thing at a time. So let me dive into tearing this apart too.\n\nLet\u2019s make it hard. Let\u2019s dismiss the fact that the brain is running the entire body and then some, which takes multitasking to a level possibly matched only by the most powerful supercomputers. Let\u2019s only focus on the crux of this argument: that the brain CAN\u2019T FOCUS ITS CONSCIOUS ATTENTION on more than one thing at a time. Within the wording of that is its own counterargument.\n\nWe still know so little about the brain compared to what\u2019s left to discover. But one thing we do know is that its processes are layered. Which goes not just for autonomic processes, but voluntary processes as well, including and especially thought. While we\u2019re talking about one thing, an under layer of our brain could be prepping the next comment, or thinking about something else entirely.\n\nThere\u2019s a lot of science that says both brains and computers can\u2019t actually multitask, that what\u2019s going on is really a rapid-fire bouncing between focuses \u2013 in some cases so rapid-fire that it gives the illusion of multitasking. To that I say: so what?! There\u2019s a point at which a thing and the illusion of that thing are close enough that the either/or DOES NOT MATTER. In my experience, whenever someone tries to define away the existence of multitasking, the caveats and qualifications add up so quickly that it obscures their original argument beyond significance.\n\n...\xa0\n\n\n--- \n\nThis episode is sponsored by \n\xb7 Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app\n\nSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicisnotagenre/support\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices