Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, subtitled "How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" could be sub-subtitled, "a paradigm-changing experience." I'm having my first-year seminar read large selections from this book for several reasons. One, as Deirdre Donahue says in USA Today, "it reaffirms that human beings are profoundly social beings influenced by and influencing other human beings, no matter how much technology we introduce into our lives." Two, while Gladwell posits that ideas are viral, I also believe that information is viral in how it gets spread. There's no better way to understand the global information environment and the Internet than via Gladwell's metaphors. Third, Gladwell is able to synthesize phenomena from epidemiology, psychology, sociology and group dynamics, bringing, as Paula Geyh says in the Chicago Tribune, "insights gleaned from these disparate fields together and applying them to an impressive array of contemporary social behaviors and cultural trends. Such knowledge, properly applied, could have enormous potential." I hope that all readers of Gladwell's work will be able to make further connections after they read this book.
12 comments:
In The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, he looks at the small aspects of society and how they change the world. You come away from this book learning that it isn’t the big events that change the world but the little details that make the most difference.
I feel like "The Tipping Point" by Malcom Gladwell gives you a greater focus on life with his presentation on how many things in the world are connected. It was interesting to read excerpts but it is not my favorite type to read, and it made me question things that were very random which made it difficult to keep reading.
I liked "The Tipping Point" because it connected many little ideas and actions with explanations that made a lot of sense. I liked how Gladwell used many examples to lead to his overall point that the answers we are usually looking for do not come from some hugely intricate plan nor from a prize winning theory. Most of the time answers to everyday problems and human interactions can be explained simply by using common sense.
In his book "The Tipping Point," Malcom Gladwell uses many detailed examples to get his point across. I enjoyed the fact that he managed to make his points without boring the reader. However, sometimes these many examples and stories took away from the flow of the book. The concepts he uses of connections and how an idea is spread were interesting.
Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" utilizes many different metaphors to explain everyday experiences. My favorite part of his book deals with the children's show Sesame Street. Gladwell relates literacy to a virus and claims that TV is the infector. The novel as a whole does not seem very connected; it is fun to read excerpts but the I do not appreciate the entire book.
I think that the author definitely has some good points and he really manages to make us think... that is when he gets his point across. It's very hard to understand what he's trying to say when it takes him so long to say it. I enjoyed the different examples that Gladwell gives us.
"The Tipping Point" written by Malcolm Gladwell is a very interesting book that explores the concept of well a tipping point. The process by which a small message becomes an epidemic while others get left in the dust. He categorizes the reason for a messages success into three groups known as the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. He took a concept that everyone has encountered in day to day life and broke it down through lots of research and explains it in a very comprehensive manner, including many different analogies. This is definitely a very interesting book and I would recommend it.
Gladwell writes in a relatable way that is basically easy to read. Even though the topic of the book is pretty random, he does a fair job at keeping it tolerable with anecdotes and observations. Over all, I wouldn't go out of my way to read it, but for required reading, it's better than Ben Franklin's autobiography.
after reading "The Tipping Point", it has made me more aware of the things that are being mentioned on tv, commercials, advertsiements, and it made me start looking at things, and weather or not they are "sticky". I also thought that it was a hard read and took a lot to actuallly absorb the information.
I thought that the "Tipping Point" was a very interesting book. It shows how little things can make a big difference. I would recommend reading it for those who want to understand how one small thing can effect everyone.
I like how the author, Malcolm Gladwell uses examples everyone is familiar with to explain how the tipping point works. His use of exampls like sesame street, and other pop culture references help me see how tipping points really come into play.
"The Tipping Point" by Malcom Gladwell is a book about how little things make big things happen. It analyzes how if it weren't for the little things big things wouldn't happen. It makes you think about how trends start and why. The book is interesting and leaves you with a different perspective on how what you do can make a big difference
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