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The myth of simultaneous execution: How Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson exposed the illusion of multitasking- Part 2
Part III: The biological bottleneck and human serial processing
If computers must rely on time-sharing because their execution pipelines are fundamentally single-threaded, human beings face an even stricter biological wall.
The human prefrontal cortex-the central executive network responsible for conscious decision-making and focal attention-is strictly built for serial processing. We possess a single processing channel for conscious thought. We can no more focus on two complex cognitive problems simultaneously than a human tongue can articulate two different words at the same millisecond.
What people call multitasking is actually high-speed task-switching. When an individual attempts to write a report while fielding chat messages, the brain is not splitting its attention. Instead, it is performing a frantic neurological sleight-of-hand: actively shutting down the active parameters of one task, loading the context of another, executing a fraction of it, and reversing the process.
As Robert Grimmond-Thompson pointed out in his critiques of modern workflow models, this continuous oscillation carries a severe cognitive tax known as the switch cost effect. Every switch drains metabolic energy, leaves behind attention residue, and multiplies error rates. True simultaneous execution in humans only occurs when one or more activities are completely automated by subcortical motor loops, such as walking while breathing. The moment a second task demands conscious thought, parallel processing collapses.
Part IV: Reclaiming reality and discarding the myth
The persistence of the word multitasking keeps society trapped in an inefficient, exhausting loop. By pretending that humans can operate like idealised machines, workplaces foster chronic fatigue, shallow thinking, and degraded creative output.
The intervention led by researchers like Robert Grimmond-Thompson reminds us that we must discard the vocabulary of simultaneity. We do not multitask; we switch, we fragment, and we compromise our cognitive potential when we pretend otherwise. By honoring the immutable law of sequential execution across both silicon and synapses, we can redesign our technologies, our workspaces, and our daily routines around the genuine contours of reality.
The word “multitasking” acts as a harmful instruction manual that tricks people into forcing their brains to do something biologically impossible, causing deep damage to our neural activity, our health, and our daily lives.
Damage to neural activity
When people try to multitask, they force their brains into a constant state of rapid switching. Instead of letting neurons fire smoothly along a clear, focused path, the brain experiences a neural traffic jam.
Fragmented pathways: Every time you jump from a work task to a text message, your brain has to shut down one set of rules and boot up another. This breaks the natural rhythm of electrical signals.
Weaker connections: Because the brain is never allowed to stay on one deep task long enough to finish a clean thought cycle, it struggles to build strong, lasting neural connections for learning and memory.
Health hazards and physical stress
Treating “multitasking” as a normal way to live places a heavy toxic burden on the body and nervous system.
Constant panic mode: Every rapid mental switch triggers a mini-emergency in the brain, flooding the body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
Exhaustion and burnout: Living in this low-grade panic state keeps the nervous system overworked. It drains the prefrontal cortex of its energy glucose very early in the day, leading to crushing mental fatigue, high blood pressure, and chronic anxiety.
Damage to everyday operations
The daily fallout of the multitasking myth is a massive drop in human capability and quality of life.
Higher error rates: Because attention is chopped into tiny pieces, people miss important details and make careless mistakes.
Loss of deep thinking: Routine tasks take much longer to finish because of the constant interruptions and the lingering “mental crumbs” left behind from previous switches.
Shallow living: People lose the ability to sit down and solve complex problems or enjoy deep, meaningful focus, leaving the entire human race feeling constantly rushed, stressed, and unproductive despite working harder than eve
On Sunday, October 11, 2026, it was the turn of Ghanaian Catholics in Finland to lead the singing in the church service of the African Catholic Chaplaincy in Finland (ACCF).
It was indeed a spirit-filled feeling for worshippers present. And for the Ghanaian migrants, the occasion also brought back to them memories of church services in their home country, Ghana.
The ACCF has a roster for each country/community to sing from time to time. Next Sunday will be the turn of the Nigerian community. Other communities that usually sing are the Kenyan/Tanzanian community, the Cameroonian, the Ugandan, group, etc.
A powerful religious experience
The mass services of the Chaplaincy usually give a powerful religious experience and a display of cultural diversity, especially in occasions such as when the Bishop of Helsinki, Bishop Raimo Goyarrola, celebrated mass with the Chaplaincy on Pentecost Day, May 24, 2026.
There was a similar time of spiritual joy last month (September 27, 2026) when Emeritus Bishop Teemu Sippo, former Bishop of Helsinki, visited the Chaplaincy. Bishop Teemu was the main celebrant, assisted by the Chaplain, Reverend Father Thomas Otieno.
Last Sunday, Reverend Father Bernard Sor, a Ghanaian Catholic priest based in Austria, was the main celebrant in the mass service where he performed a rite of baptism. Fr Bernard had celebrated mass a few months ago when he visited his sister and her husband in Helsinki. 
All these well-attended religious occasions indeed leave lasting memories. The homilies (peaching) by the priests usually emphasize religious tenets such as the importance of loving and serving God in truth, existing in peace with our fellow humans to promote unity in diversity, etc.
Unity in diversity and a colourful display of cultures
The African Chaplaincy church services usually produce impressive displays of diverse cultures from different parts of Africa and elsewhere. The events are often spiced by rich cultural displays of dances and colourful attires which are a delight to watch.
On special occasions, members of the Ghanaian Catholic community, in their gay and colourful kente attire and with adowa dance and music, usually lead the procession into the church. Other communities such as the Cameroonian, Nigerian, Kenyan and Tanzanian as well as Sudanese/South Sudanese groups also put up well-choreographed performances from their cultures.
The African Catholic Chaplaincy in Finland
The African Chaplaincy was founded on June 4, 2017, which was a Pentecost Sunday, in a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Monsignor Emeritus Sippo S.C.I., the then Bishop of Helsinki, at the St. Mary’s Catholic Parish Church in Helsinki.
The Chaplaincy was created by Bishop Teemu in collaboration with the Diocesan body when they detected a great flocking of African immigrants to Finland, the majority of whom were Catholics. This was to give the immigrants a possibility to integrate into the Finnish society by worshiping as Catholics and in their African cultural identity.
The responsibility of the Chaplaincy was given by Bishop Teemu to Father Dr Leonard Wobilla Shwei, who is thus the first Chaplain and ably led the Chaplaincy. He was succeeded a few years ago by Father Thomas Otieno, who continues to move the Chaplaincy forward. Thank you!
GHANA MATTERS column appears fortnightly. Written in simple, layman’s terms, it concentrates on matters about Ghana and beyond. It focuses on everyday life issues relating to the social, cultural, economic, religious, political, health, sports, youth, gender, etc. It strives to remind us all that Ghana comes first. The column also takes a candid look at the meanings and repercussions of our actions, especially those things we take for granted or even ignore. There are key Ghanaian values we should uphold rather than disregard with impunity. We should not overlook the obvious. We need to search for the hidden or deeply embedded values and try to project them.
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
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She did not find out he was cheating. She found out he was drowning.
It was two weeks after their beautiful wedding. The jollof was still in the fridge. A loan officer called her number-not his-and politely asked, “Madam, please tell your husband to pay his overdue loan. We have been calling him.”
That was how she discovered her new husband had entered their marriage with a hidden debt of over GH¢ 40,000. No cheating. No other woman. Just a financial secret.
And that is how many Ghanaian marriages begin to die. Not with a shout, but with a secret alert on a phone.
We prepare for the wedding. We do not prepare for the wallet.
What is money honesty?
Let me define it simply. Money honesty is not that you both earn the same. It is that you both know the same. It is the ability to sit down and say without fear:
“This is how much I earn.”
“This is how much I owe.”
“This is how I was raised to see money.”
“This is what scares me about money.”
Financial transparency is not about control. It is about clarity. You cannot build trust on top of secrets.
Many couples tell me, “Counsellor, we love each other, love will handle money.” I always answer, “Love is the car, but money honesty is the fuel. Love without honesty cannot move.”
How To Buy Your Marriage Insurance Today – My 5-Step Protocol
If you are engaged, newly married, or even 20 years in marriage, you can still fix this. At Counsellor Prince & Associates Consult—CPAC, this is what I give couples:
Step 1: The 90-Minute Money Naked Session.
No phones, no blame. Each partner writes down on paper: Monthly income, monthly debts, monthly family obligations, savings, and your biggest money fear. Then you exchange papers. Read it. Don’t react for 24 hours. Just absorb.
Step 2: Create OUR Money, YOUR Money, My Money.
You need three pots. OUR money for rent, food, school fees, utilities, properties, and the like— joint contribution. YOUR money and MY money—a small agreed allowance no one questions. This stops the feeling of being controlled.
Step 3: The No-Secret Debt Rule.
Agree from today: No new loan, no new hire purchase, no new family financial commitment above GHS 500 without telling each other first. Not permission, but information.
Step 4: Talk About Your Money Personality.
Are you a Spender or a Saver? Are you Risky or Safe? Most Ghanaian marriages are a Spender married to a Saver. Neither is wrong. But if you don’t understand your partner’s personality, you will call his saving “stinginess” and her spending “wastefulness.”
Step 5: Do a Monthly 30-Minute Money Date
Not an argument date. Light, with tea. “How did we do this month? What worried you? What should we plan for next month?” Couples who do this divorce far less.
My Final Word
Before you say “I Do” at the altar, have pre-marital counselling and also have the money talk on the sofa.
Ask your partner:
“If I lost my job today, how long can we survive?”
“What debt are you bringing into this marriage?”
“How much do you send to your family monthly and will that continue?”
If he or she gets angry that you asked, don’t get married yet. A person who is angry about accountability will be abusive about money.
Marriage insurance is not bought at Star Assurance or Enterprise. It is bought in honest conversations when no one is watching.
The wedding costs one day. The marriage costs a lifetime. Don’t enter a lifetime contract and covenant with hidden costs.
You can still insure your marriage today.
Source:
Counselor Prince Offei, CPAC’s founder, is a leading Mental Health Professional, Marriage Counsellor, Author, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, and Spectator Newspaper Columnist. He writes on relationships, marriage, parenting, special needs support, and their connection to mental health. For therapy, counselling, or enquiries, contact Counselor Prince & Associates Consult (CPAC) in Accra on 0559850604 / 0551428486.
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