But suggesting that this is "multi-tasking" is hiding the truth for the majority of people. As you said, Ive known people who do this. They simply ignore o

But suggesting that this is "multi-tasking" is hiding the truth for the majority of people. As you said, Ive known people who do this. They simply ignore one task while doing the other. But that's all computers do. So using a definition of 'multi-tasking' that excludes that, you could say there is no thing as 'multi-tasking', unless you are able to juggle several tasks at once. Which brings up a (few) problem(s) with that definition of 'multi-tasking'. Does that defintion define 'multi-tasking' as 'Doing two things at the same time', or 'Paying attention and doing two things at the same time'? If you use the former, then everyone everywhere multitasks when they decide to eat and walk, think about something and walk, etc. If you decide to use the latter, then how do you define 'attention'? Is someone thinking about what to cook tonight while walking down the street really paying attention to where they're going? The dissonance over meanings can easily be stemmed if you consider the second definition of the word 'multi-tasking'. 2. The engaging in more than one activity at the same time or serially, switching one's attention back and forth from one activity to another. Which means that 'ignoring one task while doing the other' is a perfectly valid form of multi-tasking.