策劃、編譯■李威撰、謝雯伃在現今連線世界長大的年輕人，有很好的機會可成為聰明、敏銳的決策者，只要他們不會因為無法長時間專心讀完一本好書而成為缺乏知性的人。There is a good chance young people growing up in today's always-wired world will eventually become bright, nimble decision makers - if they don't wind up intellectual lightweights unable to concentrate long enough to chew over a good book.皮尤研究中心調查1,021名科技界人士、評論家和學生，對於掛網科技如何對青少年與20幾歲青年等Y世代造成影響，分裂的雙方意見可說勢均力敵。So say 1,021 technology insiders（1）, critics and students surveyed by the Pew Research Center who were fairly evenly split about how always-on technology will impact the teenagers and twenty-somethings of "Generation Y."皮尤研究中心2月29日公布的調查指出，55％受訪者同意如下陳述：在2020年時，年輕人的頭腦「連線」方式將與35歲以上的人截然不同，將帶來快速尋找答案的好結果，且腦內過程不會有任何缺點。In the survey, released on Wednesday, 55 percent agreed with a statement that in 2020 the brains of young people would be "wired" differently from those over 35, with good results for finding answers quickly and without shortcomings in their mental processes.但另外42％的人感到悲觀，這些人同意調查中的第2種說法：在2020年時，年輕的科技使用者將很容易分心，缺乏深度思考技巧，而且只渴求短暫的滿足。But 42 percent were pessimistic, agreeing with a second statement that in 2020 young technology users would be easily distracted（2）, would lack deep thinking skills and would thirst only for instant gratification.北卡羅來納州伊隆大學副教授安德森表示：「我們預見了正反兩面之間所存在的張力。」安德森是這份研究報告的作者之一。安德森告訴《路透》：「目前，接受訪問者中有很多人已表示：『我的生活已是如此。』他們對此抱持期待。」"There is this tension going on between the positive and the negative (aspects) that we foresee," said Janna Anderson, an associate professor at North Carolina's Elon University and one of the study's authors. "Right now a lot of people (in the survey) are responding, 'That's already my life.' They are anticipating this," she told Reuters.安德森表示，由於這份報告跟1990年代初期所做的一項調查結果類似，因此相當重要。1990年代初期的研究準確預測出線上科技與版權、隱私和體制之間可能發生的衝突。The survey's forecasts carry weight since a similar poll taken in the early 1990s accurately predicted conflicts that would arise between online technology and copyrights, privacy and established institutions, Anderson said.調查參予者給出一致預測，年輕人在2020年需要一些關鍵的技能，包括團隊合作的問題解決能力、有效搜尋線上資訊的能力，以及評估資料品質的能力。The survey participants gave consistent predictions on the key skills young people would need in 2020. They included public problem-solving through cooperative work, searching effectively for information online, and weighing the quality of information.微軟首席研究員格魯丁是皮尤報告的受訪者，他在問卷寫道：「相反地，花費數小時閱讀及思考的能力並非無足輕重，但對多數人來說的確不是那麼重要。」"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," Jonathan Grudin, Microsoft Inc's top researcher and one of the survey's respondents, said in comments carried in the Pew report.多倫多大學麥克魯漢文化與科技計畫的研究人員丘達科夫表示，持續關注科技的影響及侵襲是相當要緊的。他寫道：「這是我自己的想法，還是這項工具讓我這樣感覺、這樣思考？」他寫道。Barry Chudakov, a research fellow at the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto, said staying aware of technology's influence and intrusions would be at a premium. "Is this my intention, or is the tool inciting me to feel and think this way?" he wrote.為了讓容易分心的年輕人更能夠面對掛網科技並學會專心，許多問卷的受訪者支持進行教育改革，包括設置沒有網路的反思、沉思及安靜區。Many of those surveyed backed educational reforms to make distracted young people better able to handle always-on technology and to focus. They included time-out（3） zones, meditation（4）, silence areas and going without Internet devices.惠普公司知名科技專家雷鐵納預測，由於注意力集中的時間縮短，在科技或甚至是文學的領域，會出現發展遲滯的現象。Alvaro Retena, distinguished technologist at Hewlett-Packard Co, forecast stagnation（5） in technology and even in literature as attention spans shorten.皮尤研究中心的這項調查是於2011年8月28日至10月31日在線上進行，是皮尤持續針對網路與美國人生活所作的研究的一部分。The Pew Research Center's survey was carried out online from August 28 to October 31, 2011, as part of Pew's ongoing project on the Internet and American life.該研究的受訪者從業界人士到高中、大學學生都有。受訪業界人士包括勞倫斯柏克萊國家實驗室的科學家諾德曼和谷歌首席經濟學家范里恩。4成受訪者是研究機構或大學聘雇的科學家，12％來自於從事資訊科技的工作者。The study involved respondents ranging from such industry insiders as Bruce Nordman, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Hal Varian, Google Inc's top economist, to university and high school students. Forty percent of those surveyed were research scientists or employed by a college or university, and 12 percent work for an information technology company, the poll said.（路透Reuters）關鍵字詞1. insider (n.) 局內人2. distracted (a.) 注意力分散的3. time-out (n.) 休息、暫停4. meditation (n.) 沉思5. stagnation (n.) 停滯