Week 6

Select 2 quotes that really stood out for you from these chapters list them and then
explain why you chose them.

Chapter 3
“It is hard to overstate how influential this belief has become in MarketWorld, especially in
Silicon Valley: The world may be cruel and unfair, but if you sprinkle seeds of technology on it,
shoots of equality will sprout. If every girl in Afghanistan had a smartphone… If every classroom
were linked to the Web… If every police officer wore a body camera… Mark Zuckerberg and
Priscilla Chan have vowed to connect the unconnected as part of their philanthropic work,
because the Internet “provides education if you don’t live near a good school. It provides health
information on how to avoid diseases or raise healthy children if you don’t live near a doctor. It
provides financial services if you don't live near a bank. It provides access to jobs and
opportunities if you don’t live in a good economy”.

This quote stood out to me because with these examples, at first glance it does seem like
providing technology everywhere could be extremely influential. While I do agree that
technology can be the key to bring a lot of opportunity and equality to the world, I think it’s also
important to acknowledge the huge amount of responsibility we all have when we have access
to so much information so easily and when we are so dependent on it. This quote specifically
made me think about the Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp shutdown that occurred on Monday.
Of course, for the few hour shutdown, we were all ok. However, so much of our work and
communications rely heavily on just a few technological hubs. Had the Facebook shutdown
lasted for a few days, or even weeks, I can imagine a lot of damage would have occurred. Not
to mention, it can be dangerous to have so much information in the power of one person, like
Mark Zucherberg’s, hands.

I love how the author chose to start chapter 5 with two contrasting quotes: “No one knows the
system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” -Donald J Trump, and “The master’s
tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” -Audre Lorde. While reading about anything
related to Donald Trump gives me a vomit inducing visceral reaction, I appreciated the
contrasting quote from a badass black, lesbian poet. Her quote reminds me of another quote
from my favorite musical Newsies- “being boss doesn’t mean you have all the answers, just the
brains to recognize the right one when you hear it”. The Newsies and Lorde quote emphasize
that change does not come from one person, but rather is made through collaboration. The best
leaders are the ones who can question their own beliefs and listen to those with other beliefs.

Chapter 5