Multitasking

So for this get it out there Friday I'm going to do something a little different, instead of making it about something like a band or movie, I'm going to disprove a popular idea. That idea is multitasking.
Everyone thinks they can multitask. They say, "yes I can walk and chew bubble gum." They see pianists and say, "well they're reading music and playing at the same time, obviously." 

Well here's the thing. That's just simply not true. It is physically impossible to do two activities at once. And no don't get into the pumping blood and breathing at the same time. That's a bodily function, not an activity, and doesn't fall into this category. I'm talking about specific things you do outside of just living.
But you don't do the activities at the same time. In reality, your brain is just switching between the two activities very quickly. So, people who seem to be good at multitasking, the reality is they are actually just quicker at switching between activities.

That's why a pianist has to practice to be good at playing a piece of music. He is switching between actually playing the piece of music, and reading it. If one could multitask and do both of those things at the same time, it would be no problem to play that piece of music the first time, every time. 

I also know that I might not be the best at explaining this. I first learned about this subject from a very popular TV show, Brain Games. So here's a link to the segment on the show that talks about this. Multitasking  

It kinda takes a second to sink in, I know. Almost every person I talk to about this tells me "No way, this isn't true, I multitask all the time." But then a few days later comes back and admits that I was right or that I'm onto something.