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Of course, most everyone multitasks now, and UCLA experts say it's making us faster, but sloppier; more involved, but less engaged. Tweeting, texting, Googling, blogging — it's actually rewiring our brains, contends Professor Gary Small '73 of UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. "It's changing our neural circuitry," he explains, based on his research showing new pathways created in the brains of first-time Googlers. What's left may be a shorter attention span and, especially among the generation raised on technology, a decreasing ability to socialize and empathize, Small says.

We're developing multitasking brains, this staccato-kind of thought that jumps from side to side," Small says. But for good or for ill? "Studies show it's for ill. We're faster, but we're sloppier." This is problematic enough for adults, but for malleable young minds, it could mean a lifetime of short attention spans. Studies are connecting multitasking to attention deficit disorder (ADD) and addiction. Despite the gloomy predictions, Small sees real benefits from our ultra-linked society, if we can find the right balance.