Leading experts on the Internet，technology and policy have shared the same opinion on what we can expect in the next decade when it comes to connectivity and its effects on society．

The Pew Research report asked thousands of experts and members of the public for opinions on"the most significant overall influences of our uses of the Internet on humanity"---and some had a rosier outlook than others．

"The smartest person in the world nowadays could well be stuck behind a plough in India or China，"said Hal，Google's chief economist．"Enabling that person----and the millions like him or her---will have a strong effect on the development of the human race．"

Early Internet pioneer David Hughes agreed："When every person on this planet can communicate two-way with every other person on this planet，the power of nation-states to control every human inside its geographic boundaries may start to disappear．"

Wearables （electronic equipment that people can wear ） could monitor more than just steps，predicted UC Berkeley's Aron Roberts---or do more than just monitor："We may literally be able to adjust both medications and lifestyle changes on a day-by-day basis or even an hour-by-hour basis．"

Microsoft Reaearch's Jonathan Grudin is more pessimistic（悲观）："By making so much activity visible，it exposes the gap between the way people behave and the way we think they ought to behave．Adjusting to this will be an unending，difficult task．

And the difference between the rich and the poor will have a new aspect："Only the well-off （and well-educated） will know how to preserve their privacy，"warned one expert．

"Will the Internet make it possible for our entire civilization to fall down together，in one big awful step？Possibly，"admitted Harvard"s Doctor Searls．："But the Internet has already made it possible for us to use one of our unique advantages