Clifford Nass is increasingly asked by high-tech companies to do research that questions the policies and practices that have fostered multitasking among their workers. “The norm has become ‘you must answer everybody’s text or email right away because if people get immediate answers they can move ahead.’ Well, that’s fine if you’re looking for answers from a Google search. If you keep asking Google questions, it doesn’t bug Google.” But for employees, “the cost of being constantly questioned is a real cost because there is a time limit to every day. In Silicon Valley you hire people who can think deeply and critically, but then you don’t give them time to do that.”