"The Tipping Point" is an examination of that moment when a social trend or idea becomes an epidemic. The book was written before social networking sites became a thing, otherwise Gladwell would have most likely called the book "Going Viral." Small trends build on themselves until they abruptly become larger patterns, something happens that moves the events to another level. You can rub the head of a match over and over again with no impressive effects, but when you reach the tipping point, it explodes. "Tipping Point" tries to identify why some trends ignite while others don't, and how those trends can be controlled.
The subject is fascinating and keeps your attention even if Gladwell's writing style isn't nearly as impressive as his flare for public speaking. He almost writes with a journalist's dry tone, as if he's reporting on a news story rather than telling a good story. It's not bad, but other writers are more gifted at infecting you with their sense of wonder and enthusiasm. He is quite brilliant, he does great research, and he has a gift for contextualizing difficult concepts in a way that makes them understandable. Hopefully his writing style improves over the course of his next books because you intend to read them all eventually.
According to Gladwell, there are three rules that an idea needs to follow before it becomes a social epidemic: The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. These three rules constitute the structure of the book.
The first rule, the Law of the Few, is pretty easy to understand. It stresses the importance of certain types of people in getting a movement to catch on. Some people are extremely adept at maintaining huge numbers of personal contacts, some are good at learning the most they can about a subject and passionately spreading the word about it in convincing ways. This section reminded you of the early Christian church. Christianity obviously needed a Messiah character in Jesus of Nazareth to spark the movement, but it would probably never have taken root as widely or as deeply as it did in that first century if it had not been for the works of the Apostle Paul. Both types of people were needed for that idea, that religion, to gain popularity, to become an epidemic... to tip. A few people can make all the difference in getting an idea to catch on.
The second rule, The Stickiness Factor, is oddly named, but makes as much sense as the first law. In order for something to become popular. It has to have staying power, it has to be memorable or intrinsically attractive, it has to be able to stick. MySpace and Facebook were essentially the same idea, but MySpace proved to be less sticky, it didn't have that certain something that made Facebook the king of all social networking sites. Even though we are all sick of it, most of us have Facebook accounts today, while we use MySpace as a way to make fun of those who are tragically uncool. Stickiness is a bit mysterious and hard to pin down. Nevertheless, there are people who spend their professional lives tweaking and perfecting the stickiness of certain ideas or products, there is an industry dedicated to it. This rule is, like the first, fairly intuitive.
The third rule, The Power of Context, is more counterintuitive. This is the rule that is the most fascinating to you. The idea is that by changing the little things, small behaviors, environmental details, you can force change on a much larger scale. Cleaning up the subways in New York City in the late 80's and early 90's, literally scrubbing the trains of graffiti and busting people who ignored the fares, had a major effect on the crime rate on the public transit system. Fixing all of broken windows in a sketchy neighborhood can improve the quality of living and lower crime there. Gladwell observes that, "in order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first."
But not all of the examples of the power of context were positive ones. One memorable example was an experiment done at Princeton University. Several theology students were asked to prepare an extemporaneous lesson. On the way to give the lesson, each student passed a stranger clearly in need of medical assistance. The stranger was part of the experiment. Researchers were observing to see who would stop to help him. Before heading out, each student was asked why they entered the ministry with answers varying from personal fulfillment, to a desire to examine the meaning of life, to a passion to help other people. The topics of the lesson each student gave were changed up. Some were asked to give a vague doctrinal lesson while others were asked to give a sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan. The students were either told that they were already late for the lesson or that there was plenty of time to spare. This third factor was the one that overwhelmingly determined whether or not the theology students would stop and render aide to someone clearly in physical distress. They would stop to help only if they weren't in a hurry, no matter what their motivations for entering the ministry, no matter what topic or parable they had just studied. Their context was more important than their convictions.
This whole section of "The Tipping Point" bothered you. This idea, that we are simply slaves to our surroundings, seems to rob us all of our agency, it denies us our integrity. It seems to insist that who we are at our core changes with every new situation. That doesn't sit well with you. But the more you thought about it, the more you realized that it was not exactly true. Context does matter, but it doesn't change who we are inside. Crimes are not committed entirely because people are or are not good at heart. This is why we have a jury system, to allow people to consider, not just the evidence, but also the context of crimes before rendering judgement (and even the validity of the law itself). This is why the introduction of a gun into a potentially violent situation so often ends up in tragedy. The people involved are still the same, but when the context changes, the outcome does as well. If a young man goes on a killing spree in an American suburb, it is a case for national sorrow. If he does the same thing on the field of battle, he is hailed as a hero and patriot. We pin medals on his chest. Of all of Gladwell's three rules, the Power of Context seems to you to be the most potent, the one that has the most influence on whether or not something goes viral.
"The Tipping Point" made you think about the world in a different way. That is always a good thing. One thing it made clear for you is that human beings are powerfully influenced by one major factor... other human beings. We are wired to be extraordinarily sensitive to the influence of other people. Individually, we have distinct personalities and thoughts, but we, as a race, act as one giant hive or colony. The greater our means of instant communication grow, the stronger the bonds in that colony become. This realization made you wonder what influence you are having on the colony. What change are you a part of and what can you do to help influence the world for the better?
On to the next book!
P.S. These tipping points are called threshold moments by another scientist with a Ted Talk. He has a different name for these tipping points, he calls them threshold moments. But he's not talking about fashion trends or crime rates. On a larger scale, these threshold moments seem to defy the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Order should not be able to arise from a universe that is supposed to be getting more chaotic every moment. Tipping points, threshold moments, are nature's way of creating complexity and order from all the noise. A big ball of hydrogen eventually gets to a point where it ignites into a star. This is one of the coolest Ted Talks you seen yet (even though it's not Malcolm Gladwell).
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_christian_big_history.html
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