The Geek Brain Explained

Poor Attention Span? No, You're Just Multitasking

Tutorial site Tech-Recipes has posted an interesting opinion from a doctor on the unique health problems associated with being a computer-based worker (aka "geek"); one of which is a poor attention span.

The typical geek trains their brain to be heavily focused while multitasking day after day. Is it surprising that this same brain does not do well when forced to isolate down to one task? Listening in a meeting is a very isolated, very passive event. Coding, developing, debugging -- these are not passive at all. The geek brain is just not trained to sit quietly and listen.

In other words, you don't necessarily have a poor attention span—you're just used to engaging your brain in more than one task at a time.

The article goes on to say that you can retrain your brain to isolate to just one task at a time (if you really wanted to); however, studies are starting to show that multitasking can actually create more problems than it solves. Do you agree or disagree with the writer's opinion that poor attention spans are nothing more than multitasking gone awry? Let's hear in the comments.

Debate: Health Problems Related to the Geek Lifestyle [Tech-Recipes]

http://lifehacker.com/software/productivity/poor-attention-span-no-youre-just-multitasking-313138.php