The outsourced reader

What seemed to be a promise at one time turned out to be a big problem for me: the concept of multitasking, coming true in the simultaneous managing of several things at the same time. Instant messaging, mobile communication, email, listening to music mainly in front of a computer can be distractive, that’s common sense. But my hypothesis is that multitasking on a long term perspective has also the potential to weaken one’s ability to concentrate. Too bad! The reading circle in the musicroom goes the opposite direction. An empty room, silence, the readers voice. Nothing else. No distraction by checking words on the wiktionary website, no hyperreading by following a promising link to another website. When I read now a theoretical text on my own, I am trying to hear Markos voice reading in my head. He could become an outsourced process in my brain, a tiny text-to-speech programme providing that I can concentrate on the content.

– Christoph