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.