The Multitasking Generation

Does the "mental habit of dividing one's attention into many small slices" provide an advantage or disadvantage in the workplace?

Interesting article. I've had a lot of experiences with multitasking especially in the workplace. It has quite a number of advantages with one being that it saves time. I always tend to get a lot done by multitasking at a much faster rate than I would have if I was doing each task one at a time. However with that said, I do agree that with multitasking the work is never a 100%. I've had instances where I would be doing three things at once and somewhere along the line one of those three things was not done correctly. This is also true for home related activities or even school work.

"What happens, wonders UCLA's Ochs, as we replace side-by-side and eye-to-eye human connections with quick, disembodied e-exchanges?" What do you think? How does this change us as people and in our interactions with each other?

It's true that our human interactions are fading due to technological advances. Gone are the days when you would be in a board room doing conference. Now it is over the internet via Skype, Oovoo etc and the list goes on. At the rate at which technology is growing the need for human productivity will slowly diminish.

Like it or not, is this how we need to operate in the work today in order to keep up? Do people who can multitask have an advantage of those who cannot?

Yes, I do think that multitasking is necessary in today's era. For one, we need to respond quickly to anything that comes up. I would also agree that people who can multitask have a better advantage over those who cannot. Even some workplaces have multitask as a required skill to have. So yes it is beneficial and needed.