I don't think so

The computer age will make a huge difference. Politicians will no longer be able to mislead people with inaccurate statements. Fact-checking will be readily available. Eric Schmidt, C.E.O. of Google, was talking to Charlie Rose in the second week of March when he made the comment.

Charlie had been in the Silicone Valley all week interviewing personalities in the World Wide Web industry. Mr. Schmidt spoke of his his three year old grandson. He said by the time he is eighteen, there will be so much information available on the web, it would take him until he is eighty-five to read all of it.

I thought, just how much and what kind of information will interest his grandson when he is eighteen, or any age. Will he be any different to to-day's eighteen year old?

Communities comprise a vast and wonderful variety of individuals. Some are interested in public affairs. They want to think about what they hear and read and decide for themselves what's relevant and what's not. They enjoy a good argument about thoughts and ideas. It stimulates their minds. .

Others don't. They want to believe everything is the way it ought to be. They have no wish to be disturbed. They want to mind their own business and get on with their lives. They don't think they can make a difference so they don't want the cage bars rattled and they especially dislike the rattlers..

Still others become furious when their own ideas are challenged. They respond with name-calling and hurling abuse at the offenders. They don't much care about facts. They are not inclined to check them out. They likely will not choose to accept facts if placed before them, let alone seek them out for themselves.

Mr. Schmidt, CEO of Google, undoubtedly knows a great deal about how the World Wide Web will evolve in fifteen years. It will disseminate information. It's been doing that for a while.

But people won’t change. They will still be an endless variety. Who knows the future impact of the web? I suspect things will continue as they always have. The pendulum will swing this way and that. The horrible determination of an insane leader like Adolf Hitler, or the instinct of a British Bulldog like Winston Churchill will be there when needed to pull us back from the brink.

An invention capable of instantly destroying the planet will continue to give us pause but Leaders will continue to send our sons, smooth-cheeked boys, barely out of childhood, to harsh lands and cultures we know little about, to kill and be killed.

Broken-hearted parents will continue to choke out through their tears. "That's what he always wanted to do" and find sense and solace in those words. The ones who survive will be haunted for the rest of their lives by experiences too terrible to talk about.

Leaders will continue to wax on eloquently about Courage and Glory and Commend their Sacrifice. The rest of us will simply hang our heads in hopeless submission and silent grief.

The World Wide Web will make a difference. .. but not so much maybe.