It is hard to write a review for a book about which so much has been written. It was one of the most fascinating books I read in recent times. Malcolm Gladwell is an amazing writer. I bought his other book, Blink after reading this one.
The Tipping Point is an analysis of an idea and how it spreads. Galdwell examines an idea in terms of three dimensions which he calls the three laws of tipping point
1) The law of few – analyzes the kind of people who have huge influence on the ideas ability to catch-on.
2) The Stickiness Factor – Deals with the quality of message which makes it stick.
3) The Power of Context – Talks about the conditions and circumstances that cause an idea to spread.
All these ideas are presented as series of case studies. Of the three laws, I found the “The power of context” very powerful. It says people’s behavior is as much a product of their circumstances as their character. By making subtle changes to the circumstances we can bring about huge changes in their behavior and beliefs. He illustrates this point with several examples. One was about how the crime rate in New York City dipped dramatically in 1990s. The other example was of a research conducted by two psychologists at Princeton University. This research was inspired by the story of Good Samaritan which is about a low caste man who helps a wounded person on the road while a priest and a noble man pass him by, without helping.
The psychologist met individually with a group of theology students. Each of them was given a topic to speak about. Some of them were given the story of Good Samaritan, other were given some other topic from the bible. They were informed that they would have to go to the nearby building a give an extempore talk on this subject. To some of them they said, “Oh, You are late, they were expecting you few minutes ago, you better hurry”, to others they said “It will be a few minutes before they are ready for you, but you might as well head over now”.
Along the way to the presentation, each student ran into a man who had fainted in the alley. They wanted to find out who would stop and help this man. We would assume that the person who is going to be speaking on the “Good Samaritan” would be most likely to stop and help the man. However, it did not have any significant impact on the helping behavior. The only thing that mattered was whether the student was in a rush. Only 10% of those who were rushed stopped to help the man as against 63% of those who knew they had time.
What this study implies is that your convictions or even your immediate thoughts seem to be less important than the immediate context of your behavior. To me, this was a very radical notion. A huge paradigm shift. There are several such examples in the book, each with startling new revelations.
The only draw back I found was that the book used deeply American examples, like Paul Revere and his impact on American Revolution, the TV programs Sesame Street and Blue’s clues. People who are not exposed to American history and television may not be able to relate to these. I think this is one factor that would prevent it from becoming a truly global book, like Seven Habits or Road Less Traveled. Otherwise it is a great book. I was wowed by every chapter and loved its implication that it is possible to change the world. In words of Gladwell, “Tipping Points are reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It seems like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push, in just the right places it can be tipped.”
Great review Archana! It seems like a very interesting book. And the example you quoted from the book really makes me think that after all our behaviour is character+context.
Btw I got the book “Phantoms in the Brain” from my university library. You had suggested this book in one of the posts so thought to read it 🙂
Thanks Saraswathi. Phantoms is the Brain is a great book. You will enjoy it.
BTW, which time zone are you in. You seem to be up all night 🙂
Haha..I am 10 and a half hours behind Indian time. And ya I am awake most of the time till 1 or 2 in the night. Am kind of a night person. I just cant wake up in the morning. But can stay up till anytime in the night.
Will start reading the book from tmrw 🙂
Nice review Archana I consider Tipping Point to be a landmark book. Blink is pretty good. We have reviewed Blink on our blog.
Thanks Sukumar. You mean you have reviewed it in Sastwingies. I could not find it, can you send me the link.
Nice post.
Pardon me for this lengthy comment.
There’s a similar psychological idea called “compassion fatigue” researched by the Univ of Oregon’s Paul Slovic. Here it turns out neither the context nor the conviction matters. He analyzed the response to adverts regarding humanitarian aid that featured a 7-year child. When statistical summary of the needed aid were printed alongside the child’s grim picture, people were not really forthcoming in their compassion. Numbers seem to interfere in their responses.
I was once dreaded to know that in the past 2 years, over 100 Iraqis were killed every day. How moved I was is something no psychologist can ever get to by analyzing the spikes in my limbic system or asking me to effectively use my frontal cortex to answer a long list of confounding questions?
Also check the work of Philip Zimbardo – especially his notorious Stanford Prison experiment. He had two groups of students assume the mantle of prisoners and prison administrators, in a Stanford cellar transformed into a corrective prison. All to check whether we have a disposition to be good or are we commanded by situations – conviction or context? You will be aghast at the outcomes. But anyhow these are nearly simulated conditions.
Hi Tatvat,
thank you for this interesting information. Stanford Prison example finds a mention in tipping point too.
Compassion fatigue sounds disturbing. Where can I find more information on the study?
Interesting story of the Good Samaritan experiment. It seems to make sense – how context plays an important role. That said, having been one myself, I’m not sure how representative theologians are of people with conviction! I wonder what the results would have been if they had done the experiment with people who are recognised for being compassionate… I like the notion that the world is not immovable and implacable. Thanks for the book review, which gives me a good idea of what’s in the book.
Try this
http://sastwingees.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2005/12/26/1522597.html
Thank you, drfrank. You made an interesting point. Picking up people known for compassion would not be a representative sample for the study, would it?
When you pick a group of theology students you can assume that they are influenced by the principles of their theology. Why else would you pick that subject?
I too liked the notion that world can be changed. Its a very empowering thought.
Thanks once again for your thoughts.
My experience of theology students, having been one myself, was that many people studied it – not out of a sense of religious conviction – but out of intellectual curiosity; some, indeed, were sceptics, agnostics or atheists and seemed to me to be ‘average’ people – whatever that means. Indeed, most people don’t stand out from the crowd in terms of being extra compassionate. Yes, a group of pre-chosen ‘compassionate’ people would not make the study any more representative; my point was, merely, to raise the question as to whether the same constraints of context would determine those recognised as compassionate in the same way. It was just a thought.
Hi Dr.Frank,
Now I get your point. Thats an intresting question. Would be really interesting to know if compassionate people would also be driven by time considerations. I would like think not.
Hmm,interesting post!
Thanks Ranjani.
I’m tellin’ ya, the crime rate in New York will kill ya. There’s so many problems, you never feel like you’re accomplishing anything. Violence, rip-offs, muggings. The kids can’t leave the house. You gotta walk ’em to school. But in Amity, one man can make a difference. In twenty-five years, there’s never been a shooting or a murder in this town.~
Chief Martin Brody Quote from the movie Jaws
Thanks for those insights Tom. Your comments had gotten into moderation, I noticed it only now. My apologies.
I read “Tipping Point” with avid interest in the idea of a “Tipping Point” . The whole concept of an idea or a movement or a product reaching gettting to a tipping point by one of the three laws or a combination of, excited me. I love the early illustrations the author uses. But the last third of the book, I felt, failed to live up to the potential of the first part. I would have loved to have seen examples from all over the world, and more discussion about them. Never the less, a very interesting and important book.
Thank you Nick. Infact I found the last third most interesting. Yes, it is a facinating book, I am reading ‘Blink’ by the same author. It does have the magic of Tipping point.
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Hi Archana,
Power of context is not a new idea. If you look around in india, you will understand it immediately. India has temples, rituals, music and other art forms, ‘vrithas’ and beliefs. These are not just happened. These are the delibrate creations of the great saints of the past. They knew circumstances have great impact on human and society. That is why indians can smile through poverty. We do not need psychiatrists. Our minds are calm. In USA, these things are in its infantary stages. They need psychiatrists to tackle issues. We had social seers (rishis) who invented so many things and implemented in nice fashions in the society already. We just do not really appreciate that, simply run after some western research and think that is the best thing. There is a saying malayalam,’muttathe mullakku manamilla’, means you do not enjoy the fragrance of a flower at home, always look to the neighbour’s flower.
Greatest researh on man’s behavior and society’s collective behavior (otherwise called culture) is done in India. From the animal like form, many rishis cultured the common behavior. They experimented with life (like gandhiji experimented with truth). To bring a man to his best, they introduced everything to keep mental and physical balance. They realised Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha are the basic problems to society. And control them are the best thing to bring the society into its best level. But they knew it is hard for a common person to do that. So they introduced, rituals, gods, vrithas, celebrations every now and then, Geeta, art forms and what not. So an average indian is , without too much effort, sane. that is the power of context.
Those are really great thoughts Biju. I cannot agree with you more. Thanks for taking the time for sharing it with me.
Infact, I have blog in my Company where I write about the symbolism of Hindu gods and rituals. If you have more insights on this subject, do share it with me.
[…] 3rd, 2007 by archanaraghuram I bought this book because I loved Tipping Point but it kind of disappointed me. To be fair, it would be hard to live up to a book like Tipping […]
[…] I have heard. I bought it after I read the first chapter. It was really cool and reminiscent of Tipping Point. Maybe because it began with a discussion on the drop of crime rate in NewYork city and Tipping […]
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