Has the internet changed the way you think?

An October article by Reuters reports that the Internet has indeed changed the way we think. Literally.

UCLA neuroscientist Gary Small claims studies have found that Internet searching and text messaging makes your brain more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions. He posits that technology can accelerate learning and boost creativity.

 The downside? Too much online time can create Internet addicts whose only friends are virtual, and has sparked a dramatic rise in Attention Deficit Disorder diagnoses.

Small, however, argues that the people who will come out on top in the next generation will be those with a mixture of technological and social skills — and he believes this is an evolutionary change in brain function. In his newly released fourth book iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind, Small looks at how technology has altered the way young minds develop, function and interpret information.

“The people in the next generation who are really going to have the edge are the ones who master the technological skills and also face-to-face skills,” Small told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Interestingly, the Amazon reader reviews in place at the time of this writing offer polar opposite views. What do you think?