Assorted non-bookness • 20 April 2011 • The SnowBlog
Assorted non-bookness
Some unrelated bits and bobs:
* Multitaskers struggle to... ?
When someone says to me, "Keep talking; I *am* listening," while they do something else I've never been too impressed with the results. Anecdotally and over-generalistically, I get the impression that many under-20s never do just *one* thing: if they're watching TV, they're also on FaceBook or playing a game. Wasn't like that in my day, harrumph (though I'm a low-level multi-tasker myself). Obviously if you multi-task you're unlikely to do any one of your activities as well as a single-tasker, but you're also constantly challenging your brain to cope with multiple inputs, so I was interested to read this discussion of a study which tried to work out what new mental skills multi-taskers had acquired. The answer amused me. (link)
* Bugs
I read a lot more non-fiction than fiction. I may not be making my soul more beautiful with this choice, but I certainly learn a lot more stuff about the world. I'm still at the very early stages of reading a book about MRSA at the moment (=Superbug). It's terrifying so far and is likely to turn me into a Howard Hughes-style recluse. Well-written, interesting and full of very unwelcome information. Do your best to avoid it.
* Farewell
And finally something that makes me sad: Lis Sladen, the lady who played Sarah-Jane Smith on Doctor Who - both when I was little and in the last few years - has died from cancer. I was so surprised because she always looked so fantastic that I thought she must be fit as a flea. I can't remember ever seeing a woman in her sixties look so great in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket and I loved the character she played. I think you can often tell when an actor is really a great person and no one seems to have had a bad word to say about Lis Sladen. (I would have spelled her name 'Liz' but I'm seeing it as 'Lis' in newspaper stories.) (news story)
Rob
Some unrelated bits and bobs:
* Multitaskers struggle to... ?
When someone says to me, "Keep talking; I *am* listening," while they do something else I've never been too impressed with the results. Anecdotally and over-generalistically, I get the impression that many under-20s never do just *one* thing: if they're watching TV, they're also on FaceBook or playing a game. Wasn't like that in my day, harrumph (though I'm a low-level multi-tasker myself). Obviously if you multi-task you're unlikely to do any one of your activities as well as a single-tasker, but you're also constantly challenging your brain to cope with multiple inputs, so I was interested to read this discussion of a study which tried to work out what new mental skills multi-taskers had acquired. The answer amused me. (link)
* Bugs
I read a lot more non-fiction than fiction. I may not be making my soul more beautiful with this choice, but I certainly learn a lot more stuff about the world. I'm still at the very early stages of reading a book about MRSA at the moment (=Superbug). It's terrifying so far and is likely to turn me into a Howard Hughes-style recluse. Well-written, interesting and full of very unwelcome information. Do your best to avoid it.
* Farewell
And finally something that makes me sad: Lis Sladen, the lady who played Sarah-Jane Smith on Doctor Who - both when I was little and in the last few years - has died from cancer. I was so surprised because she always looked so fantastic that I thought she must be fit as a flea. I can't remember ever seeing a woman in her sixties look so great in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket and I loved the character she played. I think you can often tell when an actor is really a great person and no one seems to have had a bad word to say about Lis Sladen. (I would have spelled her name 'Liz' but I'm seeing it as 'Lis' in newspaper stories.) (news story)