People have just assumed that... if we call our Facebook acquaintances our friends, we must be influenced by them, too. But we're not.
Nicholas A. ChristakisIt is well to look around at whom, and not just what, surrounds us. Population structure will change everything. Our health, wealth, and peace depend on it.
Nicholas A. ChristakisWe discovered that if your friend's friend's friend gained weight, you gained weight. We discovered that if your friend's friend's friend stopped smoking, you stopped smoking. And we discovered that if your friend's friend's friend became happy, you became happy.
Nicholas A. ChristakisIt used to be thought that our genes were historically immutable and that it was not possible to imagine a conversation between culture and genetics.
Nicholas A. ChristakisIt's fashionable to speak about vulnerable populations in medicine and public policy, but it's harder to find a more vulnerable population than those who are dying.
Nicholas A. ChristakisIt is the spread of the good things that vindicates the whole reason we live our lives in networks. If I was always violent to you or gave you germs, you would cut the ties to me and the network would disintegrate. In a deep and fundamental way, networks are connected to goodness, and goodness is required for networks to emerge and spread.
Nicholas A. Christakis