TODAY'S MULTITASK

Every time I turn around, there's a new "study" from a university that I've never heard of, that "proves" either something you've always known or really isn't true to begin with, but sounds good because it plays into the Ah, I thought so! section of your brain. 

The effects of thinking too hard.

The latest comes from the Spinal Cord Injury Center at University Hospital Balgrist in Zurich. The scientists, presumably between servings of Toberlone and Gruyere, decided that women are better than men at multitasking.  Because scientists at a spinal cord injury center have nothing better to do all day.

The results came from a test where men were asked to carry out complex thinking while using a treadmill. The proof of their inability to do this? Many of the men stopped swinging their arms while walking. OK, Nils, make room for that Nobel Prize!

As "proof" goes, this doesn't quite rank with the polio vaccine or the correlation between smoking and heart disease. It doesn't even equal that whole "Iraq has WMDs" debacle. Because men are better at multitasking by the simple fact that they can about sex while doing anything. 

Changing a tire. Delivering the quarterly report. Painting a house. Attending a funeral. Examine the brain patterns of any man involved in these activities, and you can be sure that all of them have made plenty of room for sex. And still their jobs get done! 

Not to be taken literally.

Now, if you want to see a guy who can really multitask, I suggest you take a look at my friend and former writing partner Kevin Thomsen. Not only is this guy an award-winning producer and director of audio books, he's set up  something called the Red Trunk Project.

Quite rightly realizing that adults have made a pig's lunch of the world, Kevin decided that it was up to children to straighten things out. To quote from his site:

The Red Trunk Project cultural initiative will prepare our children better understand and empathize with their fellow citizens from around the globe. [...] The Red Trunk Project team travels around the globe,identifies and connects with local schools, and interviews the children about their unique cultural experience.  The team records their stories with video and photographs, and collects examples of tangible, cultural artifacts.This material is brought back, cataloged, edited, and compiled, and goes into a Red Trunk. That trunk is then duplicated a hundred times, translated into different languages, and shipped all over the world so kids can explore the trunk's contents and learn about a new culture.

So, dig: Unlike celebrities who use their names and spare time to promote  booze, fashion, or their nebulous "brand," Kevin is actually trying to help the world in a cool, novel way, while still working at his (admittedly Grammy-winning) day job. That's multitasking to the nth degree. 

Go to the Red Trunk Project site and discover more about what  Kevin's doing. And if you think this is all just a free plug for a friend... Well, if you read his bio, you'll see that he's described as having "been fortunate to work with some of the greatest writers" of his time. And I think we all know who he's talking about, right? 

See, I can even backscratch while thinking about sex. 

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