One of our worst traits in journalism is that when we have a narrative in our minds, we often plug in anecdotes that confirm it. Thus we managed to portray President Gerald Ford, a first-rate athlete, as a klutz.
Nicholas KristofRead
During the Arab Spring, I learned all sorts of things from Twitter. I wouldn't necessarily trust that information, but it gave me ideas about questions to ask. You can really learn things from the wisdom of crowds.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the value of crowdsourced information, even if it's not fully reliable.
In this quote, Nicholas Kristof reflects on his experience during the Arab Spring, highlighting how Twitter served as a tool for gathering diverse perspectives and insights. While he acknowledges that the information may not always be trustworthy, he emphasizes the importance of questioning and engaging with the collective wisdom that emerges from a crowd, suggesting that it can serve as a catalyst for deeper understanding and inquiry.
Themes
CrowdsourcingInformationTwitterWisdomQuestionsArab Spring
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of social media in political movements, this quote can illustrate the benefits and limitations of information sourced from the crowd.
More from Nicholas Kristof
All quotes →A basic element of the American dream is equal access to education as the lubricant of social and economic mobility.
Nicholas KristofRead
Worrying about bills, food, or other problems leaves less capacity to think ahead or to exert self-discipline. So, poverty imposes a mental tax.
Nicholas KristofRead
Most moms and dads, they want to be good moms and dads. But it's an incredibly hard job when you are stressed out, when you are poor, when your life is in chaos. And giving them some of the tools to be better parents, to whittle away at that parenting gap, gives those kids a much better starting point in life.
Nicholas KristofRead
Since the end of the 1970s, something has gone profoundly wrong in America. Inequality has soared. Educational progress slowed. Incarceration rates quintupled. Family breakdown accelerated. Median household income stagnated.
Nicholas KristofRead
The news media's silence, particularly television news, is reprehensible. If we knew as much about Darfur as we do about Michael Jackson, we might be able to stop these things from continuing.
Nicholas KristofRead
Similar quotes
Every true hustler knows that you cannot hustle forever. You will go to jail eventually.
The Notorious B.I.G.Read
Days are expensive. When you spend a day you have one less day to spend. So make sure you spend each one wisely.
Jim RohnRead
Sometimes I get so bold and I'm so confident about what I'm doing that I actually try to be more of a dork because it's a really liberating feeling to experience what it's like to not care.
John MayerRead
The most deadly disease truly is the failure of the heart.
Oscar AriasRead
Virtue rejects facility to be her companion. She requires a craggy, rough and thorny way.
Michel De MontaigneRead
There is moderation even in excess.
Benjamin DisraeliRead