Is our generation too heavily dependent on the Internet? According to a recent Wi-Fi Alliance and Wakefield Research survey, almost three out of five students would not go to a college that does not offer free wi-fi. In fact, "nine out of 10 college students in the United States say wi-fi access is as essential to education as classrooms and computers," says the study.Some scientists and writers suggest that spending a great deal of time on the Internet can significantly shorten a person's attention span. The same survey states, "More than half [of the students surveyed] have checked Facebook or MySpace and sent or received e-mail while using their laptop in class." I have seen, in my lecture classes, no shortage of high-achieving and academically motivated Brandeis students surreptitiously checking Facebook instead of taking notes. The temptation is strong. Is the Internet so addictive it prevents even the best students from concentrating in class?

The Atlantic Monthly recently published a popular article by Nicholas Carr titled "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Internet allows us a vast range of instantly accessible information; research used to entail hours spent in libraries poring over books, articles, newspaper archives and so on. Now we can click-click-click our way through the Internet, jumping from Web page to Web page, skimming through information from one hyperlink to another. In the article, Carr describes the effect years of doing so has had on his way of thinking: "My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski."

People who are used to reading on the Internet might find it difficult to concentrate on the linear narrative of a book. A New York Times article states: "Some traditionalists warn that digital reading is the intellectual equivalent of empty calories. . Zigzagging through a cornucopia of words, pictures, video and sounds, they say, distracts more than strengthens readers." Despite all the obvious advantages of having so much information at our fingertips, it is possible that the format in which it's presented erodes our reading skills.

In general, it seems to me that spending so much time in the virtual world is slowly turning us into zombies. We are increasingly disconnected from real life. We spend less time outdoors or engaging in physical activity. We are so immersed in our technology we end up limiting our interactions with other people. Talking to friends on Facebook is not the same as talking to them in person. Talking to friends you've "met" on the Internet but not in real life doesn't count at all. The more that technology advances, it seems, the more isolated we become; take the example of Netflix. Even the drive to the video store and the basic interaction with the guy behind the counter is no longer a necessary part of the process of renting movies. We can get them mailed to us directly, so we don't even need to leave the house and make that tiny effort.

We seriously need to reevaluate our priorities. Do we really need wi-fi so desperately that we're willing to cross colleges off our lists just because they don't offer it in restaurants, classrooms, parks, coffee shops, even in our cars? Large percentages of students, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, use the Internet in all these places.

Despite all its advantages, the Internet, when used so excessively, seems to impair our social skills and numb our brains. The survey even found that "If forced to choose, nearly half of respondents (48 percent) would give up beer before giving up Wi-fi." For college students, that seems extreme.