On Sunday the Guardian published an article about how the modern world and its use of technology doesn’t fit with how our brains are wired up.
If you are feeling a little out of control or that you have way too much to deal with then you aren’t alone. “We’re assaulted with facts, pseudo facts, jibber-jabber, and rumour, all posing as information. Trying to figure out what you need to know and what you can ignore is exhausting”.
We are also doing more ourselves that ever before since we do most of things now that other people used to do for us and deal with our home life and families. “We are doing the jobs of 10 different people while still trying to keep up with our lives, our children and parents, our friends, our careers, our hobbies, and our favourite TV shows”.
One of the issues we have is that our brains aren’t wired for multitasking so that, in effect, we give even less attention to each task. Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT and one of the world experts on divided attention, says that our brains are “not wired to multitask well… When people think they’re multitasking, they’re actually just switching from one task to another very rapidly. And every time they do, there’s a cognitive cost in doing so.”
So if you feel like you are spinning a lot of plates in the air and praying that they won’t fall, this is probably the case.
The full article gives more explanation of why and how the chemicals in our brains are effected and gives an insight into why switching off is good for us. As Earl Miller says, “People can’t do [multitasking] very well, and when they say they can, they’re deluding themselves. And it turns out the brain is very good at this deluding business”.
If you are feeling out of control and struggling to cope, talking to our therapists can help.
Contact them direct from the contact details on our Who We Are page or call 0113 2583399.
J Levitin, Why the modern world is bad for your brain. The Guardian 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/18/modern-world-bad-for-brain-daniel-j-levitin-organized-mind-information-overload