Inattention Devices

There’s a story I recall about some famous and brilliant mathematician — perhaps Norbert Wiener — who rarely took his nose out of a book and who didn’t like to waste time: he would read while walking to and from the classroom (or perhaps his office) but have his arm out such that with a small part of his (very big) brain he could count the doorframes as they were ticked off against his hand; at the right count, his wrist would stiffen, and with his arm as a lever, rotate himself into the room still reading.

Now, that’s multitasking.

Seems, though, that the wet types in London lack even a smidgeon of genius, and need to be protected from the unhappy consequences of their inattention because of texting on their cell phones. Yes, that’s padding on a lamp-post you’re seeing in the photo. According to the Yahoo News story, these playpen bumpers are being installed in Brick Lane in London, and if they reduce the number of plonker bonks, they’ll be rolled out in other U.K. locations.

This has got to be a joke. No? There’s still snow on the ground so it can’t be April 1. Well, that may not be adequate proof, but I’d notice that the calendar had changed…. Surely.