Episode 233

In the Groves of Misinformation

A Conversation with Zeynep Tufekci

February 1, 2021

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Zeynep Tufekci about the problem of misinformation and group-think. They discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, the early failures of journalists and public health professionals to make sense of it, the sociology of mask wearing, the problem of correcting institutional errors, Covid as a dress rehearsal for something far worse, asymmetric information warfare, failures of messaging about vaccines, the paradox of scientific authority, the power of incentives, how to reform social media, and other topics.

Zeynep Tufekci is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina, an opinion writer at the New York Times, and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. She studies the interaction between digital technology, artificial intelligence, and society.

Twitter: @zeynep

Website: https://zeynep.substack.com/

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