The Internet can empower groups whose aims are in fact antithetical to democracy. Evgeny Morozov More Quotes by Evgeny Morozov More Quotes From Evgeny Morozov 'Solutionism' for me is, above all, an unthinking pursuit of perfection - by means of technology - without coming to grips with the fact that imperfection is an essential feature of liberal democracy. Evgeny Morozov technologyperfectionmean Social media's greatest assets - anonymity, 'virality,' interconnectedness - are also its main weaknesses. Evgeny Morozov weaknessmediasocial You actually see liberals checking 'Fox News,' if only to know what the conservatives are thinking. And you're seeing conservatives who venture into liberal sources, just to know what 'The New York Times' is thinking. Evgeny Morozov newsnew-yorkthinking Much of the real computer talent today is concentrated in the private sector. Evgeny Morozov talentrealtoday There is this huge Roma problem in Europe. There are a lot of Romas who are discriminated against in countries like the Czech Republic or Hungary. They are an ethnic minority that in Europe everyone loves to hate. Evgeny Morozov czech-republichatecountry My homeland of Belarus is an unlikely place for an Internet revolution. The country, controlled by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, was once described by Condoleezza Rice as 'the last outpost of tyranny in Europe.' Evgeny Morozov presidenteuropecountry There is this group of people who love innovation. Those people want to innovate, and they think the Internet is a wonderful tool for innovation, which is true. But you also have to remember that much of that innovation is constrained within the realities of the foreign policy. Evgeny Morozov realitypeoplethinking My fear is that many institutions will eventually alter how they treat people who refuse to self-track. There are all sorts of political and moral implications here, and I'm not sure that we have grappled with any of them. Evgeny Morozov trackselfpeople There is no doubt that the Internet brims with spamming, scamming and identity fraud. Having someone wipe out your hard drive or bank account has never been easier, and the tools for committing electronic mischief on your enemies are cheap and widely accessible. Evgeny Morozov identitydoubtenemy Sleephackers go to bed with sensors on their wrists and foreheads and maintain detailed electronic sleep diaries, which they often share online. To shift between sleep phases, sleephackers experiment with various diets, room and body temperatures, and kinds of pre-sleep physical exercise. Evgeny Morozov bedexercisesleep There are good reasons why we don't want everyone to learn nuclear physics, medicine or how financial markets work. Our entire modern project has been about delegating power over us to skilled people who want to do the work and be rewarded accordingly. Evgeny Morozov nuclearmedicinepeople The great temptation of Big Data is that we can stop worrying about comprehension and focus on preventive action instead. Instead of wasting precious public resources on understanding the 'why' - i.e., exploring the reasons as to why terrorists become terrorists - one can focus on predicting the 'when' so that a timely intervention could be made. Evgeny Morozov datafocusworry The reason why there is more pessimism about technology in Europe has to do with history, the use of databases to keep track of people in the camps, ecological disasters. Evgeny Morozov technologyeuropepeople iPod liberalism [is] where we assume that every single Iranian or Chinese who happens to have and love his iPod will also love liberal democracy. Evgeny Morozov ipodschinesetechnology When we get the remote Russian village online, what will get people to the Internet is not going to be reports from Human Rights Watch. It's going to be pornography, 'Sex and the City,' or maybe funny videos of cats. Evgeny Morozov catcitiessex Is there anything more self-defeating than using technology to free up your time - so that you can learn how to do an even better job at it? Evgeny Morozov technologyselfjobs WikiLeaks is what happens when the entire US government is forced to go through a full-body scanner. Evgeny Morozov wikileaksgovernmentbody I don't think love for technology itself breeds change. Evgeny Morozov technologythinking If you trace the history of mankind, our evolution has been mediated by technology, and without technology it's not really obvious where we would be. So I think we have always been cyborgs in this sense. Evgeny Morozov technologywould-bethinking Google’s vision is tools that will do things for you. Evgeny Morozov googlevisiontools
