“People have just assumed that... if we call our Facebook acquaintances our friends, we must be influenced by them, too. But we're not.” PeopleIfsAcquaintance Author:Nicholas A. Christakis
“It 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.” IfsWayReasonWholeOur LivesCuttingGoodnessFundamentalsGood ThingsSpreadConnectedViolentTiesGerms Author:Nicholas A. Christakis
“There are very fundamental reasons we live our lives in social networks and if we really understood the role they're playing in our society we would take better care of social networks and find ways to take advantage of their power to improve our society.” IfsWayReasonCareSocialRolesOur LivesUnderstoodAdvantageFundamentalsOur SocietySocial Network Author:Nicholas A. Christakis
“We 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.” IfsWeightSmoking Author:Nicholas A. Christakis
“If your friends are obese, your risk of obesity is 45 percent higher. ... If your friend's friends are obese, your risk of obesity is 25 percent higher. ... If your friend's friend's friend, someone you probably don't even know, is obese, your risk of obesity is 10 percent higher. It's only when you get to your friend's friend's friend's friends that there's no longer a relationship between that person's body size and your own body size.” IfsKnowsPersonsBodyInspirationMotivationRiskHigherPercentSizeHealthcareObesityObese Author:Nicholas A. Christakis
