The Internet may be a mixed blessing for younger generations, whose brains are being irrevocably altered by their relationship with the medium, warn more than half of the respondents to a survey from the Pew Research Center.

While fleetly multitasking and instantly gratifying every info-whim--simultaneously posting Facebook updates, texting their sweethearts, researching history assignments, streaming live concerts, and Skyping friends--today’s average teenagers may be turning themselves into shallow thinkers and impatient adults, warn some of the experts surveyed.

On the other hand, “quick-twitch” thinking may become a key survival skill for this hyper-connected, “always on” generation, others believe.

“The essential skills [of 2020] will be those of rapidly searching, browsing, assessing quality, and synthesizing the vast quantities of information,” said Microsoft researcher Jonathan Grudin. “In contrast, the ability to read one thing and think hard about it for hours will not be of no consequence, but it will be of far less consequence for most people.”