The Tipping Point

Different from my previous reading of Persuasion, The Tipping Point discusses a much broader range of social phenomena like crime, smoking, suicide, advertisement, marketing, social networking, and human relationships, etc. As long as the event represents a moment of dramatic changes, an epidemic widely spreading and influences the society, it is what Gladwell calls Tipping Point. Due to this chaotic collection of events, I’d say defining Tipping Point and analyzing it must have been a demanding task. With that in mind, I, however, sometimes feel the need for further researches and findings to some loosely defined concepts. In other words, Gladwell’s theories of the Special Few and the Context considerably justify much anecdotal evidence, but it seems (to me) to need a higher degree of details and more solid evidence.

I believe that Gladwell is a great storyteller who knows how much details of an anecdote to keep readers focused and excited. Though feeling it as a kinda oversimplified book, I think it is entertaining to read different stories (which are all well-sourced at the end), build up our own collective storage of anecdotes and construct our own interpretation.