Editor's Blog
Some have pointed out the supposed increase in multitasking during recent decades. An overlapping issue is the increase in raw information that humans have access to. It is certainly a fascinating sociocultural change. However, humans are not capable of true multitasking. First I will describe what humans do have presently, and then I will discuss what future humans might be capable of.
“Multitasking” in humans is primarily switchtasking combined with scripting:
1. Switchtasking is switching between tasks. This can be done quite rapidly, so fast in fact that you might feel as though you are truly multitasking.
In an article for science 2.0, I have suggested that attentional consciousness is like a single-threaded manager. However, I want to be clear that I’m not saying there’s a Cartesian theatre. I’m saying that the brain, although highly parallel at certain levels of detail, has a functionally singular attention and working memory system. Whether the model of a top-down manager is valid in all circumstances is undetermined. Neuroscientists have found a model with top-down influences on visuospatial working memory, but that is not necessarily the case for all mechanisms involved with attention.
2. Scripting is the auto-piloting in your mind. A script is the sequence of steps that you can do without conscious attention.
These scripts are often activities you had to learn at first, for instance bicycling and driving. The reason driving while multitasking is notorious is that the script works until something happens that breaks the script, such as a person suddenly wandering out in front of your car. When the script breaks, your attentional consciousness is interrupted to attend to the situation, but by the time you have decided what to do it might be too late.
You can drive your car with your scripts, meanwhile entertaining yourself with detailed telemetry (e.g. MPG, engine temperatures, etc.), MP3 players and satellite radio, video players, GPS navigation, your cell phone handling multiple calls and running multiple applications, etc. I think many people would love to be able to handle all those interactions at the same time. Some people try and end up crashing. And there’s always the few who abuse technology in special ways.
I consider background tasks like listening to music to also be just that — in the background. If you actually pay attention to music, you will find that you are not doing it at the same time as your other task (e.g. writing) — you are switching between them.
Cyborg Multitasking
In the future humans may be able to truly increase their multitasking capacity. An obvious question is, why bother?
My speculative answer: society has increased the expectation for simultaneous activities; at the same time social interactions through always-on mediums are massively popular. Humans desperately want omnipresent interaction multiplicity — be it for work, social interaction, entertainment, or all of the above. The enabling technologies are already here — the real limiting factor is the human brain.
Even when people know they are less efficient due to switchtasking, it is still quite difficult to use that premise to revert to a more efficient way of working, and to be focused for longer periods of times on single tasks.
Personally, I switch between periods of single-tasking and switchtasking. However, being able to focus for a long period of time on one thing depends on you and your situation. This brings us to enhancement.
One of the potentially popular mind enhancements will be multitasking abilities. This could start off with working memory enhancements. With memory enhancement, we would be able to switch between more tasks (or more complex tasks) while having the necessary information still loaded for all of them. But true multitasking will require enhancements to our attention system.
This essay is not about how it can be done technically — it may involve drugs, cyborg technology such as electronic implants and nervous interfaces, other types of invasive objects like nanobots, substrate changes (e.g. to digital computers) that enable programmatic enhancements, or none of those. Whatever the case, we can acknowledge some of the problems multitasking cyborgs or posthumans will face.
Problems with Multitasking
in ancient rome there was a poem
about a dog who had two bones
he picked at one he licked the other
he went in circles till he dropped dead
—Devo, Freedom of Choice
The main problem is that multitasking will change the architecture of attentional consciousness and working memory. The changes for the new architecture have to take into account control of the body — attempting to answer the phone with the same hand that is ironing could be disastrous. Likewise with trying to run in two directions at the same time. Choices that affect or require the use of limited body resources must reduce to a single decision.
Also, multiple tasks that require visual perception will have to wait for each other (basically resulting in switchtasking again) unless we also are enhanced with extra visual perception inputs. In general, the limits of the sensory modalities will limit the types of tasks being done at the same time, a problem we already have with our primitive switchtasking.
The other architectural problem is that the multiple attention sub-systems need a way to stay in sync. It’s feasible that a part of the mind would have to become a meta-manager, although that could just be the default attentional consciousness controlling the others.
From the outside, broken multitasking behavior would look like dissociative identity disorder, or even worse, like Bruce Campbell in the movie The Man With the Screaming Brain:
See also
Children of the Law of Accelerting Returns
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2 Comments
Wow this is wrong in a few way’s ROFL. Yes we as humans love our singular perspective or threw the mind’s eye as some would say. The scripting part is some what right on, but more like reactive hand eye coordination, or task’s we have pre programmed our body’s to do on a natural feeling like sate or subconscious actions. You can right now, play your self in a 3D FPS game, but when I do it my mind will do weird things and the total 1 Vs. 1 is more like a scrip from one minded thought or higher level over sight of the smaller scripts as you put it, and 1 logical master coordinator of the smaller sub part’s type. At 4 way 3D FPS I could play proficiently but with some small disruptions to each micro controlling sub thought pattern. 4 was very very hard to pull off, but during peak performance times it was done with a few trick’s of understanding my own thought/reaction/perception property’s. I was set up to do 10 but never got past 4 in a specific set up with the computers. 2 alone was nauseating, just as 4 almost made me sick after a short time doing it. I like my singular perception most, but 2,3,4 can be done now with the right set up’s, and maybe some one could do more just not me, I tried a few time’s. Yes the mind does want to switch, but tricks like focusing past monitors but with clear sight of the content on both monitors, or 4 in a specific way for main sight with 2 and peripheral on 2 others all very close and bunched together and a specific distance from the head. I did see all and react to all threw hand/eye/brain EEG control and reaction technology. I even still think some kid out there could do better than me if set up right. At 4+ I could literally see my brain crash or go haywire in a way, and become totally dysfunctional from the load. When cooler weather comes back around I’ll make the video’s my friend’s wanted and for a few other people too, I guess I’ll link one or 2 to this site then too. Playing yourself at 3D game environment’s is like playing yourself at chess only faster and way more taxing, but it is not much fun because you know what the other parts you are doing and thinking. Playing other people and guild servers was neat but felt so unfair for them, as I was controlling small mobs that reinforced the whole, it was a very weird feeling, and I still try to reflect on some of it and what was going on in a total perspective type of reflective insight. 2 flight sim’s was very very nauseating to, I felt like throwing up after 3 of my sessions doing the flight sims. But I love flight sim’s especially space flight sim’s, but good high res space flight sim’s are next to nill in today’s game industry. Just one of the many over looked markets of today. You got some of the article right and some so so wrong. LOL sorry first hand knowledge P. Also I/we have our stupid moments as well as our perfection moment’s. The circadian rhythms are just a part of it, just like mood’s too. This article just makes me feel more like I don’t fit into the normal population or human race
, yet I am human still and was born human too. I don’t have split personality, or some thing similar. I just found how to sub function under one main consciousness/master thought. I know and have known my weaknesses, and have been exploring some new found strength lately. That was part of what pushed me to this site in a way, as I relate some to the transhuman movement, but don’t want to live forever. Though that might happen to a degree by accident. Not enough human stuff for me to want that, and not enough stuff in the universe even for me to want that. So I seem to differ from the transhumanist in that regard. As is I find a lack of entertainment and other stuff like social higher thought interactions to accommodate me now, and I’m not even 40 years old yet LOL. MMO’s, movies, TV from around the world is not enough at this point and not diverse enough to not get bored with in short time frames at this point in humanity. Book’s I have a way’s to go, but even there only so much then I’m sure I will be bored with it to. near future dream share will relieve some for a time, but that has a limit too. Even perspective analytics, superstructure analytics, and science, hierarchical structuring and other stuff I like has it’s limits, and I’m sure I will get bored or come to a end at some point. But this is starting to get off main topic at this point. 4-way multitasking can be done right now, though hard and some what queasy/sickening to do, but I’ve done it multiple times when at my peak point’s. I just still love my singular perspective hand/eye control by far. 2 boxing is more of a fast switching, but seemed to prepare me for split simultaneous control of 2 separate environments. It’s all most if someone else was training me for part of my life for some of this. though I know that is not the fact, and I just had/have the luck for stumbling into it as I normally do with thing’s before some others do to. Focal length from head, hand eye coordination, preprogrammed reactions and key memory, finding the right layout of the key bind for the EEG’s with the ns delay timing, sound field adjustment for a collage of the sound for the mind to interpret it the right way’s, Ect… In a way knowing my self enough to hack my self for a type of performance to be done in the end. True multitasking though it has some huge drawbacks that no one person, media type, or book I’ve read had prepared me for. To me it is literally sickening in a way, and unpleasant or unnatural feeling so to say, or nauseating to do. Now you see why some have even called me a abomination, though I try to stay away from those types now due to such bad knee jerk comment’s. And in part why I’ve been looking into moving from Texas, as some show a type of hate and it seems to be spreading to degrees as if it was a virus. I need to get back around my type of people, or stick to the underground scene’s yet again, but for a new reason. Oh well enough for this post, and partial rant. Hehehe. Just food for your thought’s from my first hand experiences. I can’t wait for my winter run’s of more new thing’s to go threw and try to rule in or out. Chunk text off 
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P.S. Bruce campbell was great in low budget B movies, and online mini games he did. Also Sorry for my dysgraphia, as I still have it bad
Interesting article, Sam…although I’m not entirely certain I agree with you that some level of true multitasking is beyond the wild-type human brain. I’ve been obsessed with this notion for a few years (the haunting image: orbital humans with re-evolved hands for feet, getting all Vishnu on racks of gear…or each other)…
As an evolutionary biologist, I think it’s important to make the distinction that SOME of ANY action is scripted. (How do octopi do it?) What about virtuoso organists? I’m definitely aware of both of my hands and my voice when I’m tapping out guitar lines and singing at the same time.
While I agree that we can only focus on “one thing” at a time, that “one thing” isn’t stably defined. Its complexity can broaden to include what other people might recognize as multiplicities.
This has as much to do with awareness training as technological enhancement. There are certainly biological limits…we just haven’t found them.