I often wonder when I see two people walking down the street side by side, talking on their mobile phones whether they are talking to each other. It seems quite possible to me that the cell-phone has become such an extension of our bodies, that this somehow feels more natural to talk to each other through technology than it does face to face.
Or maybe people simply feel they can get in some exercise, have a visit with a walking companion and return some telephone calls all at the same time. Now that’s multi-tasking!
It’s also horribly inefficient, and incredibly rude, but we seem to conveniently overlook these things. Somewhere along the line we decided that an iPhone can override a few million years of evolution that up until a few years ago had still only minimally developed our ability to do more than one thing at once.
It’s kind of a rush to try, though, isn’t it? It feels really good to be driving down the road, talking on the phone, listening to the radio, and screaming at the guy in the Audi that just cut you off.
Or the guy I heard in the men’s room returning a telephone call from the toilet. Just for fun, I went and flushed all the vacant toilets, and did some fake vomiting so the sound effects would be complete for whomever he was conversing with.
The “Multitasking Rush” is, in short, the same euphoria one gets when using drugs. Far be it from me to lecture people about how they get their kicks, but I would suggest that Multitasking, like all other recreational drugs should be used carefully and sparingly.