0:00:15.291,0:00:16.896
Hello, everyone.

0:00:16.897,0:00:18.659
My name is indeed Zeynep Tufekci,

0:00:18.660,0:00:21.511
and it was pronounced correctly[br]for which I'm very grateful.

0:00:21.512,0:00:23.641
It happens about[br]one out of 100 times or so.

0:00:23.642,0:00:24.696
(Laughter)

0:00:24.697,0:00:29.480
I am originally from Turkey,[br]and I want to talk about these talks.

0:00:29.481,0:00:32.726
I want to talk about[br]how ideas take flight in this world,

0:00:32.728,0:00:34.244
and I want to talk about

0:00:34.245,0:00:36.875
how to think about things,[br]and how to question things,

0:00:36.879,0:00:41.106
and how to use all these ways[br]of information that we have

0:00:41.107,0:00:42.516
to go deeper.

0:00:42.517,0:00:45.435
I want to start[br]by talking about Kony 2012.

0:00:45.445,0:00:48.114
I can't see you,[br]so if this were a classroom, I'd say,

0:00:48.115,0:00:49.986
"How many of you heard of it?"

0:00:49.987,0:00:54.009
and everybody'd raise their hands almost[br]because almost everybody had heard of it.

0:00:54.010,0:00:56.772
This happened two years ago when a video,

0:00:56.773,0:01:00.727
- as you can see[br]about a 100 million views already,

0:01:00.728,0:01:03.487
many of which were racked up[br]in the first few weeks.

0:01:03.488,0:01:06.133
It was a video about Joseph Kony -

0:01:06.134,0:01:07.766
and indicted war criminal

0:01:07.767,0:01:09.527
who was in Uganda,

0:01:09.531,0:01:13.931
and it was this very moving,[br]compelling 30-minute video

0:01:13.932,0:01:16.872
that told a story of good and bad

0:01:16.882,0:01:20.111
in very stark, moving terms.

0:01:20.112,0:01:22.365
In fact, many of us watched it,

0:01:22.366,0:01:23.605
people were moved by it,

0:01:23.606,0:01:25.453
celebrities tweeted abut it.

0:01:25.454,0:01:27.403
It just went crazy viral.

0:01:27.404,0:01:30.100
It seemed like[br]such an obvious, simple story.

0:01:30.101,0:01:33.670
It was told by these people[br]talking about it.

0:01:33.671,0:01:35.415
In this chart, you can see

0:01:35.416,0:01:39.857
that tens of millions of people[br]were talking about Joseph Kony,

0:01:39.858,0:01:41.128
and "Let's stop it,"

0:01:41.129,0:01:45.639
all these resources[br]should go into this problem.

0:01:46.449,0:01:52.127
This is Jason Russell who is the person[br]through whom we hear this story.

0:01:52.128,0:01:53.561
That's Gavin.

0:01:53.562,0:01:55.427
He's telling the story to his son.

0:01:55.428,0:01:57.413
It's very easy for us to identify:

0:01:57.414,0:02:00.361
Jason looks like just a regular guy,

0:02:00.362,0:02:02.091
and his son is very cute.

0:02:02.092,0:02:06.871
They obviously - if you're wondering[br]who the good guys are in this movie

0:02:06.872,0:02:08.650
- it's like a movie -

0:02:08.651,0:02:10.195
likely candidates.

0:02:10.196,0:02:12.174
Who are the bad guys? There you go.

0:02:12.175,0:02:14.420
Joseph Kony, in case you missed the point,

0:02:14.421,0:02:15.656
Hitler's right there.

0:02:15.657,0:02:17.179
It's the most evil guy ever;

0:02:17.180,0:02:20.114
probably it was the sense of the video.

0:02:20.115,0:02:22.777
Now, it's true:

0:02:22.778,0:02:24.970
Joseph Kony is an indicted war criminal.

0:02:24.971,0:02:26.635
And it is a problem.

0:02:26.636,0:02:29.687
There is nothing[br]to belittle the real issue

0:02:29.688,0:02:31.930
and the real problems in Uganda

0:02:31.931,0:02:34.740
that came from that civil war[br]in that conflict.

0:02:34.741,0:02:38.623
So there are[br]very many problems and issues,

0:02:38.624,0:02:41.700
but the story that was told to us

0:02:41.701,0:02:45.641
in such a slick moving,[br]pull-out-our-heart string way

0:02:45.642,0:02:47.221
was too simple.

0:02:47.222,0:02:48.830
It wasn't even fully true.

0:02:48.831,0:02:54.781
It was too simplified and made[br]into this digestible saccharine for us.

0:02:54.783,0:02:57.697
In fact, if you went on YouTube,

0:02:57.698,0:02:59.353
and just started looking,

0:02:59.354,0:03:01.863
if you went on Twitter,[br]if you went on social media,

0:03:01.864,0:03:03.956
you would find Rosebell Kagumire

0:03:03.957,0:03:06.614
who is a Ugandan journalist and blogger.

0:03:06.615,0:03:08.685
And it's really an amazing world,

0:03:08.686,0:03:11.636
because all she did[br]was she opened her laptop,

0:03:11.829,0:03:13.896
she used her webcam,

0:03:13.897,0:03:16.326
there is no slick production [values.]

0:03:16.327,0:03:18.532
"Stop Kony," the original video,

0:03:18.533,0:03:22.209
was 30 minutes of great production[br]and great narrative;

0:03:22.210,0:03:26.235
this is bad lighting[br]- look at the background -

0:03:26.236,0:03:31.313
she's just in her office or study,[br]and she's just talking.

0:03:31.314,0:03:33.171
But if you listen to her

0:03:33.172,0:03:35.601
- and I encourage you[br]to go follow her on Twitter,

0:03:35.602,0:03:36.808
she's awesome -

0:03:36.809,0:03:39.837
She tells a complex story of conflict

0:03:39.838,0:03:43.092
that was caused by resources[br]and lack of resources,

0:03:43.093,0:03:45.108
and marginalization of people,

0:03:45.109,0:03:48.162
and how the Kony story[br]is six, seven years out of date,

0:03:48.163,0:03:50.979
and it's not the problem[br]facing Uganda right now,

0:03:50.980,0:03:53.722
and while, of course,[br]if that man was caught,

0:03:53.723,0:03:56.629
it wouldn't really be on top[br]of anybody's list on Uganda

0:03:56.630,0:03:59.214
to send all their resources[br]to catch this man,

0:03:59.451,0:04:02.735
and the complexities of moving[br]in a post-conflict world,

0:04:02.736,0:04:07.782
and how do you make peace[br]and how do you... I'm stopping there.

0:04:07.783,0:04:12.720
The point is it wasn't the simple story[br]that you would've thought

0:04:12.721,0:04:15.866
if you were one of the 100 million people[br]who watched the video.

0:04:15.867,0:04:19.000
If you were one of the 600,000 people[br]who watched Rosebell,

0:04:19.000,0:04:22.566
then you were digging deeper,[br]and you could go one more step.

0:04:22.567,0:04:25.653
That really was[br]a very interesting moment for me,

0:04:25.654,0:04:27.884
because, you see, I grew up in Turkey.

0:04:27.885,0:04:30.377
I grew up without speaking English.

0:04:30.378,0:04:34.067
So I didn't have this,[br]which is Turkish Wikipedia.

0:04:34.068,0:04:36.297
I thought you guys[br]should learn some Turkish.

0:04:36.298,0:04:38.847
It's a good thing to do, very useful.

0:04:38.848,0:04:42.926
It actually is a complicated language,[br]but it's nothing like English.

0:04:42.927,0:04:43.927
But "Vikipedi."

0:04:43.928,0:04:45.913
There you go.[br]You now know a Turkish word.

0:04:45.914,0:04:46.934
(Laughter)

0:04:46.935,0:04:48.247
We didn't have it.

0:04:48.248,0:04:52.114
Is a professor telling us[br]to use Wikipedia?

0:04:52.115,0:04:53.889
Well, yes, "Don't cite it,"

0:04:53.890,0:04:55.634
It's a great place to start.

0:04:55.635,0:04:57.401
You can quote me on that.

0:04:57.402,0:04:58.757
We've all been there, right?

0:04:58.767,0:05:00.366
Wiki-drift; you start some place,

0:05:00.367,0:05:02.424
and then, three hours later,[br]you're reading.

0:05:02.425,0:05:05.141
"Why am I reading about slugs[br]and their digestive system?"

0:05:05.142,0:05:06.192
(Laughter)

0:05:06.193,0:05:07.259
So I love it.

0:05:07.260,0:05:08.358
But I didn't have it!

0:05:08.359,0:05:11.028
I did not have Wikipedia, but I had this.

0:05:11.029,0:05:13.965
That is my 92-year-old grandma.

0:05:13.966,0:05:18.817
If 3D printers are finally invented[br]and they can print grandmothers,

0:05:18.818,0:05:20.634
this is probably what they'll print.

0:05:20.635,0:05:22.114
She is like prototype grandma.

0:05:22.115,0:05:23.135
(Laughter)

0:05:23.136,0:05:24.268
She's perfect.

0:05:24.269,0:05:27.156
She had grown up in Turkey

0:05:27.157,0:05:30.047
under conditions[br]when girls did not go to school.

0:05:30.048,0:05:33.008
She was 12 when she was[br]pulled from school,

0:05:33.020,0:05:35.308
and was told, "That's it.[br]That's enough for you.

0:05:35.309,0:05:37.050
You're now about to get married."

0:05:37.051,0:05:39.794
A miracle happened:[br]the teacher intervened,

0:05:39.795,0:05:43.859
and said, "There's an exam[br]for scholarships for girls.

0:05:43.860,0:05:47.328
So they can go[br]to the top high school in Turkey."

0:05:47.329,0:05:49.663
And the teacher, secretly from the family,

0:05:49.664,0:05:51.554
entered her and my grandmother won.

0:05:51.555,0:05:53.084
And there was a lot of conflict,

0:05:53.085,0:05:55.524
but stuff came together,[br]and a miracle happened,

0:05:55.525,0:05:58.325
and she was allowed to go Istanbul,[br]to this big, new city

0:05:58.326,0:06:01.415
and in a boarding school[br]this elite top boarding school.

0:06:01.416,0:06:04.121
And that thing she's holding[br]is a trophy they gave her

0:06:04.122,0:06:07.072
at the 75th anniversary of her graduation.

0:06:07.073,0:06:09.403
She graduated[br]from high school, then college,

0:06:09.404,0:06:12.273
probably the first person in her town,[br]let alone her family.

0:06:12.274,0:06:13.870
And she became a teacher.

0:06:13.871,0:06:17.238
And because she had grown up[br]wanting to go to school and pulled,

0:06:17.239,0:06:20.730
and just by some miracle, managed to go,

0:06:20.731,0:06:24.460
she appreciated the opportunity[br]books and education gave.

0:06:24.461,0:06:28.119
So when ever somebody came[br]to the school she worked at,

0:06:28.120,0:06:31.471
which I also attended[br]as an elementary school student,

0:06:31.472,0:06:34.792
when somebody came to sell encyclopedias

0:06:35.698,0:06:37.648
- Do you know those things? No. -

0:06:37.649,0:06:38.748
(Laughter)

0:06:38.749,0:06:40.011
Those book things?

0:06:40.012,0:06:43.508
Well, there used to be people[br]who went around selling them door-to-door;

0:06:43.509,0:06:45.244
we had them in Turkey, too.

0:06:45.245,0:06:48.028
And they all had my name[br]in their phone book

0:06:48.029,0:06:50.109
- which, of course, wasn't digital then -

0:06:50.110,0:06:52.619
"Buy Zeynep, sucker grandma"

0:06:52.620,0:06:57.097
which meant if I took them to my grandma,[br]she would buy whatever they were selling.

0:06:57.098,0:06:59.927
I loved reading,[br]and I loved encyclopedias.

0:06:59.928,0:07:03.157
So when the encyclopedia sales person[br]would come and say,

0:07:03.158,0:07:05.553
"We heard there's[br]a Zeynep in this school,"

0:07:05.554,0:07:08.502
I would pipe up and they would say,[br]"Take us to your grandma."

0:07:08.503,0:07:11.806
and my grandma would buy me[br]whatever I could buy:

0:07:11.807,0:07:15.522
every single Turkish[br]children's encyclopedia I had.

0:07:15.523,0:07:16.612
(Laughter)

0:07:16.613,0:07:17.834
It was awesome.

0:07:17.835,0:07:19.139
And I would just read them.

0:07:19.140,0:07:21.382
Do you read books?[br]Comic books or other books?

0:07:21.383,0:07:22.826
I would read them like that.

0:07:22.827,0:07:25.081
I would say, "I'm going[br]to read the Ps today."

0:07:25.082,0:07:26.366
I would just read the Ps.

0:07:26.367,0:07:29.236
Or some of the encyclopedias[br]were thematic, and I would say,

0:07:29.237,0:07:31.233
"I'm going to read transportation today."

0:07:31.234,0:07:34.510
I read them cover to cover.[br]I knew what was in every one of them.

0:07:34.511,0:07:38.064
Remember, Turkish, so it's not[br]an unlimited collection, either.

0:07:38.065,0:07:42.834
And I would end up[br]having questions; that I hit limits.

0:07:42.835,0:07:46.161
They weren't in any of my encyclopedias.

0:07:46.162,0:07:48.119
I knew I just couldn't get at them.

0:07:48.120,0:07:50.909
Now you don't live in that world anymore.

0:07:50.910,0:07:52.958
You can go deeper and deeper and deeper.

0:07:52.959,0:07:55.731
You can look, and ask, and question,

0:07:55.732,0:07:57.617
and I don't live in that world anymore.

0:07:57.618,0:07:59.841
Everyday, I pull out[br]my phone, and I'm always,

0:07:59.842,0:08:01.371
"I can look up anything I want."

0:08:01.372,0:08:04.714
and if there's some public record of it,[br]I'll probably find it.

0:08:04.715,0:08:06.334
Or I can ask people, experts.

0:08:06.335,0:08:09.336
When I have a question that puzzles me,

0:08:09.337,0:08:11.305
I can look up someone, I can email them.

0:08:11.306,0:08:13.076
This is just amazing.

0:08:13.077,0:08:14.726
And what I want to say is

0:08:14.727,0:08:16.265
when you hear a talk like this,

0:08:16.266,0:08:17.457
there is Bill Gates';

0:08:17.458,0:08:19.904
you know, a very successful TED talk.

0:08:19.905,0:08:22.214
When you hear his talk,

0:08:22.215,0:08:24.830
the thing to probably take away from it

0:08:24.831,0:08:27.866
is not what he said in his talk,

0:08:27.867,0:08:32.956
but to look at a world[br]in which what made him successful,

0:08:32.957,0:08:34.587
how much of it was him,

0:08:34.591,0:08:37.690
what was the structure,[br]what were the opportunities he had,

0:08:37.691,0:08:40.591
where were some of the stumbling blocks?

0:08:40.606,0:08:42.953
He, for example, had many opportunities,

0:08:42.955,0:08:44.524
because his family was well off,

0:08:44.525,0:08:47.571
so he went to a private school[br]which had computers

0:08:47.572,0:08:49.299
when even colleges didn't have one,

0:08:49.300,0:08:50.992
so he became a programmer early,

0:08:50.993,0:08:53.871
and he was programming[br]and doing things very early on

0:08:53.872,0:08:57.017
which gave him[br]the opportunity to be first

0:08:57.018,0:09:00.015
when software was being commercialized;

0:09:00.016,0:09:01.255
complicated story.

0:09:01.256,0:09:03.506
My point isn't one thing.

0:09:03.511,0:09:08.385
My point is look at these talks[br]as a question mark.

0:09:08.386,0:09:13.166
It's not a world[br]where you can just lean back

0:09:13.846,0:09:16.287
and be one of the people[br]who does something.

0:09:16.288,0:09:20.908
In software, in gadgets,[br]people who design them have a word:

0:09:20.909,0:09:23.279
lean forward gadgets[br]and lean back gadgets.

0:09:23.283,0:09:25.223
Lean back gadgets are the ones

0:09:25.224,0:09:29.374
that allow you to lean back[br]and not participate much,

0:09:29.375,0:09:30.816
whereas the lean forward ones

0:09:30.817,0:09:33.600
are the ones where you're doing stuff[br]and participating.

0:09:33.601,0:09:35.576
And these talks, while they can be great,

0:09:35.577,0:09:38.411
if you don't look at them[br]as a question mark,

0:09:38.412,0:09:41.568
they can seem like lean-back talks.

0:09:41.569,0:09:44.868
They can seem like, "Oh, great story,"

0:09:44.869,0:09:47.588
because they're simplified[br]in 12 minutes, in 15 minutes.

0:09:47.589,0:09:49.311
We're going to simplify something.

0:09:49.312,0:09:51.669
So when you hear something,[br]pull out your phone.

0:09:51.670,0:09:54.492
Is there an alternative explanation[br]to the extinction?

0:09:54.493,0:09:56.236
Is there more to the story?

0:09:56.237,0:09:58.302
What else could the CIA have done?

0:09:58.303,0:09:59.881
What is the NSA doing?

0:09:59.882,0:10:03.309
What's the best balance[br]between security and surveillance?

0:10:03.310,0:10:05.385
What are other questions we can ask?

0:10:05.386,0:10:06.826
Very good questions.

0:10:06.835,0:10:11.690
Do not just listen to us,[br]because it's always complicated.

0:10:11.691,0:10:12.767
(Laughter)

0:10:12.868,0:10:14.767
It's always complicated.

0:10:14.781,0:10:19.495
Any question worth solving,[br]any problem worth tackling,

0:10:19.496,0:10:21.695
will be complicated by human factors,

0:10:21.696,0:10:23.954
social factors, political factors.

0:10:23.955,0:10:28.294
And it's those people who don't just[br]watch the hundred million viewed video,

0:10:28.295,0:10:31.144
but then go watch Rosebell, the 600, 000;

0:10:31.145,0:10:33.778
and some of those people[br]who will then go read,

0:10:33.779,0:10:36.791
and some of those people[br]will maybe become activists for life,

0:10:36.792,0:10:39.252
maybe some of them[br]will become policy makers,

0:10:39.253,0:10:41.549
maybe some of them will become

0:10:41.550,0:10:48.184
the people who then run for office,[br]run an organization, who knows?

0:10:48.185,0:10:51.821
It's not a world[br]in which you can just watch from afar

0:10:51.822,0:10:56.901
and have these nicely-packaged talks[br]do the work for you.

0:10:56.902,0:10:59.447
If there's a problem you want to solve,

0:10:59.448,0:11:02.072
if there's a mark[br]you want to leave in this world,

0:11:02.073,0:11:05.682
just don't just look at it as a period,

0:11:05.683,0:11:08.067
look at it as a question mark; always.

0:11:08.068,0:11:11.372
But don't take my word for it.[br]Dig deep, dig deep.

0:11:11.373,0:11:12.449
Thank you.

0:11:12.450,0:11:13.670
(Applause)