Science Friday Tells Me So

Science Friday tells me so on NPR, therefore it must be true: multi-tasking isn’t good for you. The brain appears to be constructed to attend to one thing at a time. M-T causes brains to switch rapidly between their tasks with losses in efficiency. Those who multi-task a lot invariably perform at lower levels of competence. No exceptions. Do we need science to tell us so? No. This knowledge is as old as homo sapiens.

On the same program I learned—amazing what a trip to Kroger can produce—that as brains age they get more efficient. They reason better. The old doctrine that we shed grey cells as the years advance is now said to lack evidence. The old brain is also capable of a deeper happiness than youth. Not news to the ancients.

I like science that happens to confirm what I know from life itself. Someday science will also tell me why it’s wrong to alter crops genetically. And more, much more. I’ll keep listening to Science Friday…as I alertly navigate through heavy traffic with laudable patience.