I’m a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, they are always a terrific read, even if he is prone to overstatements and lack of rigorous research.
In this latest book, he reviews his earlier book The Tipping Point and its hypothesis that little things can make a big difference. Twenty-five years later, it’s a very different world and the optimism of the past is fading. In this latest book, he continues with the same theme, that small things can have a big impact, but looks at the darker side of this phenomenon. The revenge of the tipping point is that “the very same tools we use to build a better world can also be used against us”.
The book covers social epidemics (bank robberies, vaccination rates, medicare fraud, money laundering, drug addiction, youth suicide), medical viruses and epidemics, discrimination (university admission policies), changing social opinions (same sex marriage, talking about the holocaust), and the impact of diversity in neighbourhoods (white flight).
The three tools discussed in the book are overstories, superspreaders and group proportions. An overstory is the story of a community that affects the behaviour of its inhabitants. And there are some good news stories in the book, including how the world can be changed by television shows (ranging from a mini-series about the holocaust to Will and Grace). Gladwell also warns about the dangers of monocultures, and the importance of diversity. He explains how monocultures, even when seemingly idyllic, come at a cost. Epidemics love monocultures. What you give up in a world of uniformity is resilience. Gladwell explains how the magic third in group proportions seems to be a tipping point for changing the groups direction.
Whether or not Gladwell’s theories are scientifically provable, they are food for thought, and the book is written in his signature style, keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout.
