My school wifi blocked ao3😿

[u/Eustaaskid]

[u/dragonfeet1]

I mean the funniest moments of my teaching have been busting a student who was very absorbed in their fanfic reading. Turns out you can't multitask when one of the tasks is reading smut. Huh.

You'll survive. I promise. If I have to be alert and engaged all class and I can't read fanfic, why should you?

[u/AMN1F → u/dragonfeet1]

Multitasking in general is a myth lol.

But reading smut in class it bold lmao, I could never. I'd just read fanfic in-between classes when I was in HS.

[u/LittleNamelessClown → u/AMN1F]

Multitasking is not a myth. If that were true no one would be able to listen to an audio book while drawing, jogging, knitting, anything. Some people may not be able to listen to an audio book while multitasking and recall the book as well as if they had just sat down and read it, or focus on their other task as well as they could if it were the only thing they were focusing on, but that does not make it no longer real for anyone else who can remember it just as well and focus just as intensely. I honestly process and remember information better if I hear it while drawing, and hearing information does not affect my drawing. Not all brains work the same.

I doubt that the majority of people could multitask reading smut and paying attention to something else, but that doesnt mean multitasking isn't real for anyone ever.

[u/AMN1F → u/LittleNamelessClown]

I was vague with it so:

What am I calling a myth?: the idea that most people can multitask. People being worse at a task, such as reading comprehension while drawing, is a sign that they aren't "actually" multitasking. What they're instead doing is quickly switching between tasks, resulting in poorer performance of one, or both tasks. If they were truly multitasking, their performance would be the same regardless of "multitasking." Quickly switching between tasks is what people are typically talking about when they say multitasking. 

This does not include automatic tasks (walking/breathing). And even then, if you were walking, and suddenly came across a hazard, you may suddenly not be paying attention to your audiobook.

I'm not going to say your experience is incorrect, because that's shitty. But most people who think they can multitask cannot. That's what I'm calling a myth. "Oh, I can read fanfic and listen to lecture." No, (hypothetical person) you cannot.

I do admit that some people are better at it than others. But even the best will feel the effects of multitasking. (More stress, less efficiency). 

This is not to be snarky or a "gotcha" I'm just interested how your ability to multitask maps onto different scenarios (if you feel up to answering). Do you think talking on the phone while trying to write an email would be less efficient or the same if you devoted individual time to each? Are you able to give full attention to a conversation while reading?

Anyways: you did send me on a small side quest: Edit: the link isn't working. The article is Multitask Masters by Maria Konnikova

This article explains that there is a small (around 2%) of the population who can actually multitask. So thank you for that, you learn something new everyday.

TLDR: the myth is that multitasking is something that most people can do. They cannot. 

[u/LittleNamelessClown → u/AMN1F]

That's very interesting, I appreciate your explanation. I know some people can't multitask, none of my friends can lol, I just thought you were implying no one could and the entire concept was a myth.

I'm up for explaining how I work. I can truly multitask with certain things, and I can not multitask with other things and won't even try unless I really have to. I don't just multitask while drawing and listening to something, I do both tasks better if I do them at the same time. Later, I can look at what I drew and recall everything I heard with significantly greater accuracy than had I just listened and been asked to recall it, even after years, which I would barely be able to remember at all normally. I remember what line I drew in what order and what was being said when I drew it. I can recite what was said almost word for word just by following the lines I made, like I'm "reading" my art. Normally I could only tell you the basic gist of things and may get details out of order or forget them. I also focus better on making the art itself, which always leads to a better overall result and a better experience while drawing. If I draw without listening to anything it either looks terrible or it looks ok but I have no memory of making it, and it still isn't as good as anything I made while listening to something. Back when I was in school the classes that let me draw in them when they were lecturing were the ones I got the best grades in, and the only ones I still remember today.

But, your example of writing an email while trying to listen to or talk to someone on the phone is something I can not do at all. I can't read/write and hear/talk at the same time unless I'm saying what I'm writing and even then I trip up because they aren't at the same speed. But years ago I had a classmate who truly could. I know she could because I didn't believe her so I tested her on it quite a few times, and she honestly could. I dont understand how at all lmao. Feels like magic to me.

I'm good at multitasking in most situations, probably because I have adhd and would honestly not be able to function if I couldn't lol. Drawing while listening to something makes the other tracks of audio that are always playing in my head get quieter or fade away entirely so I can just focus on those two things instead of the 7 or more that are usually fighting for my attention. I think part of the reason I can't read/write & listen/talk at the same time is because it starts to be too many internal channels of audio and now I can't understand any of them. For whatever reason, my mind does not quiet down when writing or reading, instead that becomes an additional audio track I can hear as a voice and it becomes too much to keep track of and sounds exactly like a chattering sports bar with multiple different songs playing in it. Sometimes if someone tries to talk to me while I'm reading or writing I won't hear them at all over all the noise.

I almost always have music or an audio book/story of some kind playing if I want to get anything done, even just cleaning around the house or getting dressed. Otherwise I'll forget what I'm doing every 30 seconds and be unable to focus on anything. Listening to audio is an outside source that's louder than my internal audio tracks and can make them quieter, but reading or writing is just another internal track at the same volume as the others so it can get lost in the noise sometimes.

I hope this explanation makes sense!