Zeynep Tufekci Quotes

"In a time of information avalanche, focusing on what is true and important can be a revolutionary act."

"Data is immensely appealing to me as a social scientist."

"Attention is powerful and can dampen violence even in seemingly worst conditions."

"Condemnation campaigns can and do work, even in conditions where one thinks there are no morals left."

"Surprising as it may seem, norms matter, even in the hell that is war."

"A 'fair' fight between non-equals is not fair, and being blind to power is an implicit endorsement of the powerful."

"That is the key strength of independent academia: we can speak up in spite of corporate or government interests."

"Social media is enhancing human connectivity as people can converse in ways that were once not possible."

"If anything, social media is a counterweight to the ongoing devaluation of human lives."

"There is no doubt that social-media fury can go wrong."

"The punishment online mobs can mete out is often disproportionate."

"Technical solutions have to be built around and integrated with social signals, not by stepping on them."

"There are worse things than being exploited, and being redundant and unable to make a living is one of them."

"What's a soccer mom but a general category that hides great variation?"

"The first time I was teargassed, in Istanbul, Turkey, I thought I was going to die."

"Modeling an exponential process necessarily produces a wide range of outcomes."

"A model's robustness depends on how often it gets tried out and tweaked based on data and its performance."

"In complex systems, one can think about linear interactions and complex or nonlinear interactions."

"If some people fly, any virus can get to any country."

"Just like healthy diets, the best pandemic interventions are sustainable, logical, and scientifically justified."

"Fixing the WHO is crucial, because we desperately need well-functioning global health institutions."

"Containing Ebola is a no-brainer, and not that expensive."

"We have large-scale nuclear power but are avoiding steps to evaluate it, update it or make it safer."

"We have an energy crisis but we continue to consume as if there will be a magical solution."

"Frankly, I find even the most mindless lolcat sites on the Internet to be an improvement over canned-laughter-filled sitcoms."