Canadian psychologists have studied the process by which the human brain solves two problems at the same time. And they found out that in fact the brain switches very quickly from one task to another, and does not solve them in parallel. At the same time, the speed of such switching can be increased by training.
The researchers used a tomograph to monitor brain activity and determined that the prefrontal cortex plays a key role in putting two things together at once. It cannot provide truly parallel actions, but it can sequentially solve two different tasks.
What they were doing?
A group of seven subjects were asked to solve two problems. In the first, by pressing one of the two buttons, it was necessary to sort the images that appeared on the screen. In the second, it was already necessary to sort the sounds - and not by pressing the button, but by saying the answer aloud.
Even at the beginning of the experiment, psychologists saw a natural picture. Individually, the subjects coped with any of the tasks quite quickly, but an attempt to solve both of them simultaneously led to a sharp deterioration in the results. Training for two weeks in solving both problems simultaneously significantly increased not only the speed of solving each problem separately, but also their simultaneous execution. Although, as further analysis of the results of the experiment showed, the brain could not become truly multitasking.
How exactly?
The fact that with the help of training it is possible to speed up the solution of two parallel tasks is in itself not a new fact, and therefore, from a scientific point of view, of little interest. Scientists were interested not only in the ability to learn how to solve several different tasks at the same time, but also in how the brain changes in the process of such training.
Scientists have suggested that multitasking can be achieved in several ways. For example, in the process of learning a certain task, the brain can switch from the prefrontal cortex to other structures: in this case, the subjects would do the sorting of pictures or sounds automatically, without conscious participation. A similar effect can be achieved by allocating separate groups of cells for the task, which are not occupied with anything else: a section of the cerebral cortex would be responsible for its task.
However, most of the possible explanations were recognized by scientists as untenable in the course of processing the results of the experiment. Multitasking actually turned out to be associated not with the emergence of separate specialized areas, but with the acceleration of the prefrontal cortex.
Is it possible to multitask?
The researchers, who described their experiment in the journal Neuron, were able to show that when the brain is doing two tasks at the same time, it constantly switches from one to the other. These switchings require a certain time, which can be reduced by training - however, not to an arbitrarily small amount. In addition, the success of training largely depends on the complexity of the task. Rene Marois, one of the researchers, noted that tasks that require complex logical operations are solved by parts of the brain that are not involved in solving simple tasks.
Finding out exactly how the human brain adapts to perform several tasks at once is important not only for understanding the principles of the brain as a whole. A driver talking on a cell phone or a machine operator who is distracted by a question finds himself in a similar situation. And air traffic controllers do have to constantly solve several problems at once, and a mistake can lead to disaster. If psychologists learn how the brain copes with such situations, it will be possible to develop recommendations for the risk group.
Caesar was a very cunning and far-sighted politician. He was always ready to repulse numerous enemies, both in the military and in the secular field. Caesar had no time to have fun, but the position obliged him to attend various events, including gladiator fights. Sitting in the imperial box of the amphitheater, the ruler of Rome used the time to good use: he looked through, answered letters, talked with advisers and associates.
Watching Caesar, his political opponents noticed that the emperor did not pay enough attention to the spectacle taking place in the arena. Since at that time gladiator fights were considered an event of exceptional importance among the patricians, Caesar was asked how he manages to watch the fight, write letters, and read. The emperor answered the sarcastic question simply: he said that the Great Caesar could do both two and three things at the same time.
Version two. Scientific
Already in our time, scientists have decided to confirm or refute the ancient legend. Psychologists from Canada published the results of an unusual experiment in the journal Neuron. They examined a group of people for the ability to do several things at the same time. A group of seven were assigned tasks. The first task was to sort the images that appeared on the screen by pressing a button. The second task was to sort the sounds and say the answer aloud.
Psychologists have found that the human brain cannot physically perform two tasks, but can switch to another task. At the beginning of the experiment, each subject easily completed one of the tasks, but could not simultaneously complete the second “sound” task. However, over time, the situation began to improve: the switching speed increased. It turned out that the ability to switch from one task to another can be trained, but it is impossible to train the brain to perform several tasks at the same time. Apparently, Caesar, through constant training, taught his brain to work so fast that the people around him did not notice those fractions of a second that the emperor needed to switch.
Version three. divine
Everything is simple here: Caesar believed in his own divine origin. It is clear that the emperor, who descended from Venus itself, had access to such abilities that a mere mortal could only dream of. It seemed to the people that the most educated Caesar was endowed with divine power. Caesar could simultaneously (or almost simultaneously) discuss state problems, dictate messages and write, and at the same time enjoy the worship of his own people. True, the senators did not share the opinion of ordinary people about the divine essence of the newly-minted dictator, but that's another story.
LOVE SECRETS OF THE RULERS OF THE WORLD
“Look for a woman,” the French say. “Love that moves the sun and luminaries,” wrote the great Dante about the main driving force of world history. In fact, almost everything we know about the past of mankind is somehow tied to love dramas. If there were no love component in the history of civilization, we would be completely different today. Unfortunately, history teaches only that it teaches no one and nothing. Nevertheless, we all need to know the past in order to better understand the present. That is why "World of News" offers readers a series of exclusive historical materials, united by a common theme: "Love secrets of the rulers of the world."
What do we know about the great Roman general Julius Caesar?
“I came, I saw, I conquered” - this is about one of his wars. “The die is cast” is about crossing the Rubicon River, which served as the beginning of a bloody civil war in the Roman Republic.
And we also know the exclamation from school: “... and you, Brutus ?!” This is about a knife in the back of Caesar from the side of the guy caressed by him (by the way, the son of his fatal mistress!).
And of course, we remember the most popular and colorful story of all time - Caesar and Cleopatra. Ballads, films, plays, poems, gossip - what has not been released to the masses over the past two thousand years on the theme of the fatal love of the Egyptian queen and the dictator of Rome!
And there are countless works on the theme of the villainous murder of Julius Caesar ...
But in the life of this figure there were very intriguing and little-known moments that had a huge impact on his development as the greatest historical figure.
Why, by the way, the greatest? Yes, because without the dictatorship of Caesar, republican Rome would not have fallen and there would not have been a powerful Roman Empire - the progenitor of modern culture and civilization. Without it, there would not have been much - from justice and the Julian calendar to examples of military strategy, which is still being studied.
And if we talk about what first exalted Caesar, and then destroyed him - about his fatal passions - then we must, of course, start with his youth.
YOUNG CAESAR: LOOKING FOR ORIENTATION?
Sexual scandals accompanied Julius all his life. As soon as he began to achieve success in the military and civil fields, a rumor about Caesar's homosexual relationship with the king of Bithynia (modern territory of Turkey) Nicomedes was cleverly thrown into Roman society. History knows only one thing for sure: yes, the old king Nicomedes and his wife really liked the young patrician Julius, they received him for a long time in their palace, made expensive gifts. But, as they say, no one stood with a torch over the bed. Nevertheless, many politicians of the time used this moment to humiliate and slander their rising rival.
Julius Caesar in speeches was called "the king's bedding" and "the queen's lover".
It got even worse. Caesar, they say, is “the wicked place of Nicomedes” and “the Bithynian harlot”. One of the main opponents of Caesar (a certain Bibulus) calls him in general the “Queen of Bithynia”. But most of all, the greatest orator and publicist Cicero played out the fantasy. He, too, with a torch did not stand over Caesar and Nicomedes, but he colorfully described in some of his letters, they say, ... the royal servants took Caesar to the bedchamber, he lay in a purple robe on a golden bed, and the color of the youth of this descendant of Venus was corrupted in Bithynia ...
(By the way, we note: Julius Caesar descended from Yul, one of the sons of the goddess Venus, and therefore considered himself worthy of the kingdom.)
It got to the point of being grotesque. When Caesar conquered Gaul, during the triumph, his soldiers sang:
Caesar conquers the Gauls,
Nicomedes - Caesar:
Today Caesar triumphs, having conquered Gaul, -
Nicomedes does not triumph
conquered Caesar.
In general, with all his courage and intelligence, Caesar could not just dismiss the accusations of sodomy (although, by and large, in Rome this was not considered immoral).
For a politician who is gaining weight, as today, this could be fatal. But then Rome was still a republic, and the Romans elected managers almost by honest voting!
In general, Julius decided to show Rome that he had accurately chosen his sexual orientation, that no one would lead him astray, and that he was a big fan of the female sex.
Of course, Caesar, as befits an aristocrat, for a start favorably married the patrician Cornelia Zinnila. But after a while he becomes a widower - Cornelia dies in childbirth.
The second wife of Caesar is Pompey Sulla - the granddaughter of the famous bloody dictator Sulla (68 BC - 62 BC).
RAMPAGE OF POWER AND SEXUAL EXERCISES
The third wife of Caesar was Calpurnia, the daughter of one of the most influential Roman consuls. The marriage was concluded for political calculation. Caesar confidently went up. He himself managed to deftly arrange another important marriage - his only daughter with the powerful commander of Rome, Gnaeus Pompey.
Then he organized with his son-in-law Pompey and the commander Mark Crassus a trumvirate of the unspoken rulers of Rome.
And now Caesar could indulge in sexual promiscuity without much fear.
Ancient historians write that "he was the lover of many noble women." He was not afraid to include in his harem even the wives of his powerful comrades in the triumvirate - Tertulla, the wife of Crassus, and Mutsia, the wife of Pompey. In addition, he did not ignore other wives of prominent patricians - Postumia, Lollia ...
But the noble Roman Servilia became the most important, moreover, the fatal mistress of Caesar. She was the mother of that famous, proverbial Brutus. Today it is difficult to say for certain that the legend that Brutus was the son of Caesar himself is false. Servilia had her own legal husband, but she could also give birth to Caesar.
After all, the betrayal of Brutus, who, among the two dozen conspirators, plunged a dagger into Caesar, can be motivated not only politically. Brutus could hold a grudge against Julius because Caesar ended up treating his mother Servilia badly, leaving her and not recognizing his paternity.
Yes, and Servilia herself, offended by Caesar, participated in the conspiracy and could well direct her son's dagger into the heart of her former lover.
But at first, Julius Caesar was inflamed with genuine sexual passion for Servilia, although she was a woman of a very bad and malicious character. Caesar bought for her a unique pearl worth 6 million sesterces, and during the civil war, apart from other gifts, he sold her the richest estates at auction for next to nothing.
THE SECOND AND LAST FATAL PASSION OF CAESAR
During his military campaigns, the great commander, of course, gave vent to his sexual promiscuity. In the provinces, he never left other people's wives alone. His legionnaires, loving Caesar, nevertheless could sing first a vile ditty about Nicomedes, and then an even more topical one:
Hide your wives: we are leading a bald libertine into the city.
The money borrowed in Rome you prowled in Gaul.
After the conquest of Gaul - the country of the future French - Caesar was forced to enter into a struggle for sole power over Rome with Gnaeus Pompey, whom he eventually defeated.
In those years, among his mistresses there were even queens - for example, the Mauritanian Evnoya, the wife of Bogud: he made numerous gifts to him and her.
However, in the last years of his life, Caesar fell in love with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra most of all. The history of their relationship is well known. He showered her with gifts (and she - him), they feasted until dawn, on her ship with rich chambers, he was ready to sail through all of Egypt to Ethiopia itself.
But the passion for Cleopatra became fatal for Caesar precisely when he invited her to Rome, and then released her with great honors and rich gifts, allowing her to name her son by his name.
Then evil rumors began to spread in Rome: they say that Caesar wants to become king, to make Cleopatra (a foreigner!) Queen, and to continue the dynasty, they already have a ready-made heir named Caesarion ...
Alas, often more than the truth, it is rumors that affect society. The assassination attempt on Caesar and his premature death were the result of both his fatal passions and his political mistakes.
It is interesting, by the way, that even during the great love with Cleopatra, Caesar, already proclaimed dictator of Rome, did not leave his habit of sexual promiscuity.
The people's tribune Helvius Cinna admitted that he had prepared a bill on the orders of Julius. Under this law, Caesar was allowed to take as many wives as he liked and any heirs he liked. And the patrician Curio in one of his speeches called Caesar "the husband of all wives and the wife of all husbands."
And this phrase went down in history after the great Julius himself.
Caesar Guy Julius (Gaius Julius Caesar) (c. 100 - 44 BC) - Roman patrician, military leader and statesman. Belonged to the famous Roman family Julius. He was a member of the famous triumvirate between him, Pompey and Crassus, which turned the republic into a private possession of this trio. After the victory over Pompey - the sole dictator of Rome. He is one of the brightest figures in ancient history. He was a good orator and a wonderful writer - his notes on the Gallic campaign and the war with Pompey still serve as a model of Latin prose. Julius Caesar was known as a great womanizer - one of his mistresses was Cleopatra. At the birth of Julius, his mother underwent an operation, which later became known as a caesarean (caesarean) section. "Caesar" became the official title of the Roman emperors, from which the titles "Kaiser" in Germany and "Tsar" in Russia then came. The personal life of Caesar was described by many authors, but the most colorful description is given by Suetonius in the Life of the Twelve Caesars and Plutarch in the Biographies. The murder of Caesar by Brutus formed the basis of the plot of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.
Prepared by Evgeny Alexandrov
To the begining
Natalia thought that her brain will explode. The clock was 3 pm, Monday.
She tried to simultaneously answer an important client on Skype, talked on the phone with a logistician, figuring out where the cargo had gone, and at the same time read the text for posting on the site.
It was terrible. She made mistakes in correspondence, did not understand from the first time what she was being told on the phone and missed just a nightmarish text on the site.
As a result of "multitasking" and out of focus, she lost a client, paid $200 for a hacky text and almost sent a batch of exclusive chocolate to a cosmetic store.
And all this in just 1 hour. But she did this almost every day.
Previously, Natalia, the owner of a painting company who decided to go into the chocolate business, prided herself on her ability to multitask. It seemed to her the best way to do everything.
But over time, she realized that multitasking destroys her productivity. And worsens the results.
After being distracted by a phone call, missing a single letter in an email, and losing a contract worth tens of thousands of dollars, she's done with "multitasking" for good. And she developed her own technique of how to stay in focus.
Today, both of Natalia's businesses are very successful, she makes fewer mistakes, is productive, relaxed and exudes confidence.
The myth of multitasking
But this is a false feeling. You can't do more than one thing at the same time. Even computers cannot do this.
A person can do two things at the same time only if one activity does not require active conscious thinking.
For example, you can drive in a familiar area while still talking on the phone. However, if you're driving through unexplored terrain, you'll need to put your phone down.
Some part of you already knows the truth. You you can only do one thing.
Multitasking is not when you do many things at the same time. This is a series of short time periods of work on a series of tasks of different levels of complexity.
You check email and talk on the phone. You watch the news and have dinner with your family. You write a letter to a client and make a budget for the next month. You are interviewing and reading a blog.
These habits lead you to the abyss.
Their trick is that the more mental energy you have, the better you can do these stupid and unproductive things.
Slow down...
You can do a lot in this state, but you can't do real work.
In multitasking mode, you can only do "fake" work, dull work. Work that you basically shouldn't do at all. And this is confirmed by the facts.
How multitasking leads to mistakes and lower IQ
Scientists at Stanford University conducted a study of the brain's response to multitasking. The results were published in all the world's tabloids and turned the idea of thousands of entrepreneurs about how to work to improve performance.
297 students were first asked 10 questions like “Is the Earth round? Yes or no?”, Then they were given the task to compare the sizes of 10 pairs of objects and say which one is larger. And then they were asked to do these two tasks at the same time.
The results were stunning.
When the tasks were performed in turn and the subjects focused only on them, the answer took only 2 seconds and 99% of them were correct.
When students were out of focus and doing 2 things at the same time, it took 10 seconds to answer. And 55% of the answers were wrong!
150 Stanford students could not tell if the Earth is round or not just because they were trying to compare 2 triangles in parallel!
And you still wonder why you make mistakes if you write messages while talking on the phone at the same time?
After conducting the same experiment in parallel with MRI, it turned out that when focusing on one task, the areas of the brain responsible for it work at 100%. And when combining tasks - only 50%.
As a result, when you process several streams of information at once, IQ drops by 10-15 points and you start thinking like an 8 year old. Reservations appear, imprints appear, you make the wrong decisions.
Instead of focusing and quickly completing an important task, you are constantly interrupted, losing concentration. And to return to work and continue with the same productivity, you need an average of 10-15 minutes.
Only by focusing on one task can switch all brain resources to it and get the best solution.
Here are 6 simple rules that Natalia and other high-performing entrepreneurs use to stay focused on one task and accomplish it effectively.
6 Simple Rules for Finding Focus at Work Without Multitasking
Rule 1. Use the principle of "DDOO"
Dwight Eisenhower said "Urgent is rarely important, and important is urgent." Therefore, when working with tasks, follow these principles:
- D Do important and urgent things first.
- D Delegate urgent but unimportant tasks.
- O Set aside important but non-urgent tasks. (But just make sure to make them on time, for example, using ).
- O discard unimportant and non-urgent things.
This way you will focus on the main thing and get rid of a bunch of small, distracting tasks that force you to “multitask” and ruin your brain.
Rule 2. Break big tasks into small ones
Put in the plan not just the task of “make a newsletter”, but all the stages of this task: “think over the idea of \u200b\u200bthe letter”, “write the text of the letter”, “edit the letter”, “make three options for the subject of the letter”.
It's easier for the brain to focus on smaller tasks. Global plans lead to a loss of concentration. Start breaking down tasks into simple steps, and you will complete them faster and better.
Rule 3: Use the Pomodoro Technique
Take a timer and set it to 25 minutes. During this time, do not be distracted by anything other than the scheduled task. Turn off the phone, mail notifications, close the office.
After the timer rings, rest for 5 minutes, switch your attention. After 5 minutes, return to work for another 25 minutes.
After four such cycles, when you collect the "pomodoro", rest for 25-30 minutes.
This is an incredibly effective technique that eliminates multitasking, overload, focuses the brain and increases its productivity.
Rule 4. Open a maximum of three browser tabs
Search engine and 2 pages you work with. If you need the information on it later, save it to Evernote, close the page, and keep working.
So you stop drowning in the flow of information, unload your brain and be able to systematize all the data you receive. This is a huge leap from "multitasking" to focus.
Rule 5: Have a whiteboard at work
Put or hang it in your office or meeting room and write down ideas, tasks, draw a Mind Map on it.
This will distract from calls, messages, gadgets, everything that eats up concentration.
It's just a board. She is one. She is white. It has no pop-up icons and ads. Focus on it and on your task, and you will get results faster.
Rule 6. Plan
When you know what you need to do at any given moment, focusing is much easier.
Although I know from experience that planning can feel tedious and unnecessary. I used to think so too.
However, after analyzing the results, I saw that projects that had a plan ALWAYS gave me more money, results and satisfaction than projects without it.
Then I started looking for a way how to make it easier to create a plan and make it more enjoyable for you.
After reading dozens of books on planning, taking several courses, and studying the success stories of great corporations like Procter & Gamble and Philip Morris, I came up with a simple and understandable 8-step checklist with which I make a project plan in 44 minutes easily and with pleasure.
And now I briefly open access to it ...
Get my checklist for free to plan stress-free projects and get 10X results every time:
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⭐Founder of #GoldCoach consulting company
Simultaneously seven, unrelated.
In ancient Rome, gladiator fights were not just entertainment, they carried an important religious message. In fact, they were sacrifices to the gods. Therefore, those who did not go to fights were looked rather askance - approximately as in Russia they look askance at those who do not drink vodka :) Gaius Julius Caesar was just one of those who were not interested in gladiator fights. It is unlikely that he could not stand the sight of blood, but rather because after all the wars he had fought, gladiator fights looked the same as backyard football after the World Cup. However, as a "life consul" he was forced to attend the battles. Populism in those years was much cooler than it is now :) In order not to waste time, Caesar in his box dealt with correspondence.) So, when one of the close people reproached Caesar - how can he watch battles and write letters at the same time? - Gaius Julius invariably answered, without taking his eyes off the letter, that “Caesar can do not only two, but even three things at the same time - and watch battles, and write letters, and talk. "
Healthy
Gaius Julius Caesar - Ancient Roman statesman and politician, dictator, commander, writer. Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Subura, a suburb of Rome, located near the Forum, in a patrician family from the Julius family, which played a significant role in the history of Rome from ancient times. Before Caesar, the Julius family, despite their aristocratic origin, was not rich by the standards of the Roman nobility of that time. That is why, until Caesar himself, almost none of his relatives achieved much influence. After the death of Sulla, Caesar returned to Rome and joined the political struggle. Caesar lost both trials, but despite this, he gained fame as one of the best orators of Rome. In 65 BC, according to some conflicting accounts of his contemporaries, Caesar is involved in an unsuccessful plot to seize power. In 62 BC Julius Caesar sends a praetor. Caesar's Gallic proconsulship was a direct continuation of his activities in the previous 7-8 years, aimed at obtaining under his command a large military force that could allow him to claim power and, if necessary, balance the military influence of Pompey. The brilliant results of the first expeditions enormously raised Caesar's prestige in Rome; Gallic money maintained this prestige no less successfully. Senate opposition against the triumvirate, however, did not doze off, and Pompey in Rome experienced a number of unpleasant moments. For a long time of his political activity, Julius Caesar quite definitely realized to himself that one of the main evils that cause a serious illness in the Roman political system is the instability, impotence and purely urban character of the executive power, the selfish, narrow party and class nature of the power of the senate. From the first moments of his career, he openly and definitely struggled with both. The guiding idea of Caesar's foreign policy was the creation of a strong and integral state with natural, if possible, borders. Caesar pursued this idea in the north, and in the south, and in the east. In all of Caesar's reforming activities, two main ideas are clearly noted. One is the need to unite the Roman state into one whole, the need to smooth out the difference between the citizen-owner and the provincial slave, to smooth out the strife of nationalities; the other, closely related to the first, is the streamlining of the administration, close communication between the state and its subjects, the elimination of intermediaries, and a strong central authority. Caesar was killed on March 15, 44 BC. at a meeting of the Senate. When friends once advised the dictator to beware of enemies and surround himself with guards, Caesar replied: “It is better to die once than to constantly expect death.” A broad education, grammatical and literary, gave Caesar the opportunity, like most educated people of that time, to be active not only in politics, but also in literature. The literary activity of Caesar in his mature years was, however, for him not a goal, but a means of a purely political nature. According to the unanimous testimony of all ancient authors, Caesar was distinguished by sexual promiscuity: “he was the lover of many
military women, "including the wives of their comrades in the triumvirate - Tertulla, the wife of Crassus, and Mutsia, the wife of Pompey; they also claimed about his connection with the wife of his ally, the king of Mauritania, Bogud, Evnoia. Caesar was especially fond of Servilia, the sister of Cato the Younger and the mother of Brutus, which gave rise to the legend that Brutus was Caesar's own son (although Brutus was only 17-19 years younger than Caesar, the peak of the affair with Servilia falls on the end of the 60s). years, when Brutus was already entering adulthood.The personality of Caesar has always attracted the attention of researchers of ancient history, but assessments of his activities were different.The founder of one of the first scientific schools of studying Roman history, Barthold Niebuhr, reservedly assessed the activities of the dictator.In 1724, on behalf of Peter I F. Anokhin translated into Russian four books of Notes, but the translation was not published and was lost.
Caesar- one of the titles of the rulers of the Roman Empire. Descended from the cognomen of the Julius clan "Caesar", the bearer of which was a politician and commander of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. BC. Gaius Julius Caesar. Gaius Julius Caesar was killed in 44 BC. In the III-IV centuries, the title "Caesar" was inextricably linked with the idea of co-government, when the senior ruler, who was assigned the title "August", shared power with the junior co-ruler - "Caesar".
