Turns out, Small believes the Natives will adapt well to technological progress and change. Young people have a greater ability to adapt to ever changing stimulus in the environment with their "young plastic brains."
So unless we can keep up with the younger natives, we will see the chasm widen between teens, parents and grandparents. At some point, we may no longer bridge the gap between the soundbite generation, who are likely lacking critical thinking skills, and we immigrants who are not fully grasping this new impersonal language, and not even sure we want to embrace complex technology.
We see differences every day in the social groups who do and do not read newspapers. We've lost our common foundation for news and opinion, with such diverse sources as HuffingtonPost.com, LifeHacker.com and Technorati.com becoming our go-to sources for a filtered information stream.
iBrain also delves into the reward/satisfaction mentality of web use and explores what for some people become obsessions such as email overload, porn, gambling and shopping compulsions.
It remains to be seen if social networking with Facebook, Twitter and the next new thing will remain popular. To many, it is a distraction obsession, delivering and sharing microbursts of thought. Will it become a true social tool, replacing something most of us grew up with: A neighborhood, with multiple generations enjoying the same experiences, across porches and backyards, instead of digital line to nowhere?
The distraction generation, the kids who learn how to deal with technology and may adapt better than us, are more able to process information quickly and make decisions faster too. But they are less adept at interpersonal communication, social skills and reading faces. We may be browsing and typing our way away from learned intelligence, and this is our wake-up call.
Small and Vorgan suggest we may some day discover technology is one of the most pivotal advances in human history. Let's hope we discover it's effects on intelligence before its too late.
For me, reading iBrain has already convinced me to become a Twitter quitter.
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