Eli5: Why can’t we truly multitask? Why is our “multitasking” just setting something aside real quick to do something else? Why can’t our limbs perform different tasks at once?
In: Biology
We can multitask. We multitask all of the time, even while we are asleep. We breathe, our heart beats. While awake you can do that while dancing, singing, hearing, seeing, smelling, touching and tasting.
But we have limited processing ability in our conscious minds. Our conscious minds can only do one thing at a time. That is what makes it our conscious mind. The thing we are conscious of.
You can listen to someone, do math, and process all sorts of things at the same time. You just are not consciously aware of it. When you cannot think of something, continue talking, and suddenly you remember that thing – you were multitasking. You were talking and trying to remember the thing. You were only conscious of the talking.
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