On 8/17/2015 8:01 PM, The Real Bev wrote:
On 08/17/2015 02:21 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 8/17/2015 2:06 PM, The Real Bev wrote:
On 08/17/2015 01:23 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Muggles:
I've seen discussions
where the conclusion was that women are more able to multitask without
skipping a beat and men were more single minded limiting their ability
to multitask?

Nobody can multitask, it's just sequential flipping back and forth. Women may
just need to do more flipping than guys do.

In software engineering, multitasking is a commonly used mechanism
for making more robust, reliable, maintainable, etc. programs. Do
a bunch of little things AS IF that was *all* you had to do.

But, there is an implicit overhead in doing so -- because a
computer can really only *do* one thing at a time. So, you
have to "switch" between these different tasks. That means
remembering EVERYTHING about what you *were* doing on the first
task while you *recall* everything that you had previously *done*
on the second task. The time/effort that it takes to do this
is "overhead" (waste).

The same things apply to human brains. It takes effort to remember
where you are in a given task in enough ACCURATE detail that you will
be able to later return to that point -- while simultaneously recalling
the details of the *other* task that you are now going to resume.
All that effort "switching" is "waste".

And, opportunity to screw up!

Kind of makes sense in the context of man-the-hunter being evolved to
stalk something, kill it, and bring it home.

OTOH, woman-the-gatherer, would seem better served by browsing behavior.

At least that's how I rationalize trips to the shopping mall: I want to
find the shoes, kill them, and bring them home. My SO wants to look
here, look there....

Or, worse yet, LOOK at all of them, then nonchalantly flinch and
leave, empty-handed -- yet not *distressed* by this fact!

When I needed shoes for my daughter's wedding I ended up trying up everything
that might vaguely go with my dress in the quest for something that didn't
hurt. I took the winners off as soon as I could sit down at the reception.
Some men's tennies are OK, but they suck for formal wear.

I wasn't specifically commenting on shoes -- though understand your
reference in light of the point at which I injected my comments.

Rather, women (sorry to generalize) tend to be content to look at lots
of *anything* and then leave with *nothing*. AND, not be distressed over
this fact! If I've made a trip out to buy/acquire something, I am
upset if I don't come home *with* it! "Wasted trip".

Furthermore, men will tend to keep that on their ToDo list as an
unfinished task. Women seem not to mind (arbitraily?) deciding that
they don't *need* it, afterall! ("I'll make do with what I have...")

[If the man could have rationalized a way of "making do", he would
have done so to get out of that *task*!]

[Of course, I am painting with a broad brush...]

OTOH, get into an old-fashioned hardware store (i.e., *not* "Ace") and
I can spend hours looking at odd little things wondering what use I
could find for them! :

Our only REAL hardware store closed several months ago. One of the things of
which I'm most proud is that Mrs. Berg offered me a job there 45 years ago when
I was buying a lot of weird stuff to build a tape recorder. Couldn't take it,
but it made me really feel good. Still does.

I haven't been in a "real" hardware store since I left New England.

[Men also seem to have an unnatural fondness for flashlights! And, give
a man a garden hose and he won't set it down until the well runs dry! : ]

Damn Harbor Freight stopped giving them out even if you didn't buy anything.
Those are nifty little flashlights.

It was silly of them to offer them as free WITHOUT purchase. OTOH, much
of their stuff is of dubious quality. I was looking to buy a drywall
lift and looked at their offering: would I want to be standing under
a sheet of drywall supported by *this*??

frown

That being said, I hate shopping anywhere but 99-Cents-Only and Costco and I
despise shopping for clothes.

I've got clothes down to a science: buy lots of the *same* pants, shirts,
socks, etc. Then, buying is just a check-off task (no "looking" or
"deciding" required). And, can even be delegated to others: "Pick up
three of these, for me -- at store".

Yard sales. People buy way too many clothes, so I might as well buy used
t-shirts for a quarter and levi's for $2. This means that *I* buy way too many
clothes.

The idea of "previously worn" clothing gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Kind of like a *used* toothbrush... who cares how many times it's
been WASHED!!! frown

It also cuts down on that time in the morning when you have to "decide"
what to wear, "today".

T-shirt, shorts/pants. I'm good.

Jeans (several identical pair) and black or white T-shirt (see post elsewhere
how I invariably choose the wrong color to wear).

If it's a special occasion (party, funeral, etc.) I drag out black dress
slacks and a black shirt (the "Johnny Cash" look).

Once in a blue moon I'll get "to the nines" in a three-piece suit.
Usually, my friends find that disturbing...