一心多用科学吗？(双语有声)

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Earl Miller says younger generation will be better multitaskers

EarthSky

今天，来自波特兰俄勒冈州的观众海莉·麦克雷向科学家提出疑问：

Hayley McCrea: If the younger generation will have an easier time multitasking than the older generation? And more specifically, if the brain is going to be wired differently for the younger generation than the older generation?

海莉·麦克雷：年轻人是不是比老一代更擅长一心多用呢？或者更确切地说，年轻人和老一代的大脑思维方式是不是不一样呢？

We asked Earl Miller, professor of neuroscience at MIT, and an expert on the subject of multitasking.

我们就这一问题向麻省理工大学神经科学教授、多任务处理专家厄尔·米勒先生求教。

Earl Miller: Well, the short answer to that question is yes, In many ways, the brain is constantly wiring and rewiring itself in response to experience. And if you have a lot of experience multitasking, you're gonna get better at it. And getting better at it means your brain is wired a little more towards multitasking than somebody who is not used to it.

厄尔·米勒：简单地说，是这样的。随着经验的增长，大脑会以各种各样的方式调整思维结构。经常一心多用的人会变得更擅长这门技巧。也就是说，这些人的大脑比一般人更适应这种活动。

Today, a teenager might be doing her homework, while also watching TV, texting her friends, and checking her Facebook page on the computer. But, Miller said, she is not actually doing all these things simultaneously.

现在的青少年常常一次干好几件事。他们一边做作业，一边看电视、给朋友发短信、上网登录Facebook。但米勒指出，他们其实并不是真的在同时干几件事。

Earl Miller: In actuality, people can only really think about two or three, maybe four cognitively demanding thoughts at one time. So what's actually going on is your brain is switching back and forth between the different tasks.

厄尔·米勒：实际上，人脑可以同时思考的问题只有两三个，最多不超过四个。所以一心多用其实只是在不同的任务之间快速转换。

So, Miller said, while there's no such thing as true multitasking, the younger generation will be better at switching focus from one task to another.

米勒表示，没有人能做到真正的一心多用，因此年轻人只是更擅长快速转移注意力而已。

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