Hooked

At last I came across a book which managed to make me something that I thought I would never be (least outright) - anti-social. There I was, supposedly, spending the weekend with my adorable nephew, sis and aunt,while in reality, I was immersed into "a terrifically rewarding read."

Malcolm Gladwell in his book, 'The Tipping Point' got me hooked major BIG TIME so much so that even during meals I would sneak a peek, much to the chagrin of my sis who wondered if I would ever change..

I too, am perplexed to say the least. Main aisi to nahi thi..
This one time we bumped into my dad's colleague in a restaurant. The latter's son, much to my disbelief, was reading a book! Never thought that even I would be cutting such a sorry figure one day... In my defense, all I want to say is that well, the theme of the book is addictive and that I want to finish it before I leave for the 'City of Gardens' next week so that I can issue more!

Elaborating "How little things can make a big difference", the book dissects the dynamics of epidemics, be it a fashion fad, syphilis, rumour, suicide or smoking. The importance of peer pressure needs no elaboration with my nephew's toys' interests serving as a perfect example, viz, from beyblade to now 'Game Boy'.

The three rules of epidemics are:

1. The Law of the Few - Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen

2. The Stickiness Factor

3. The Power of Context

Reviews:

• One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the way 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.
• It is a book for anyone who cares about how society works and how we can make it better.
• It's the kind of book from which you'll be regaling your friends with intriguing snippets for weeks to come. (I've already started!)
  
  

Excerpts:

Three characteristics of an epidemic - one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment.

We are all, at heart, gradualists, our expectations set by the passage of time. (No wonder I feel a bit lost at times now when unplanned things are happening so fast!)

On the 1964 heart-wrenching murder of a young Queens woman - Kitty Genovese as 38 of her neighbours looked on:

It can be asumed, however, that their apathy was indeed one of the big-city variety. It is almost a matter of psychological survival, if one is surrounded and pressed by millions of people, to prevent them from constantly impinging on you, and the only way to do this is to ignore them as often as possible.

Proximity overpowers similarity. We're friends with the people we do things with, as much as we are with the people we resemble.

Connectors see possibility, and while most of us are busily choosing whom we would loke to know, and rejecting the people who don't look right or who live out...

FAE (Fundamental Attribution Error) - When it comes to interpreting other people's behaviour, human beings invariably make the mistake of overestimating the importance of fundamental character traits and underestimating the importance of the situation and context.

New York sub-way experiment (that of cleaning up the graffitti) has taught that it is possible to be a better person on a clean street or in a clean subway than in one littered with trash and graffitti. (All NRIs agree, I bet)

Caring about someone deeply is exhausting.

The figure of 150 seems to represent the maxmum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of relationship that goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us.

Rumours are spread as information first is levelled - all kinds of details that are essential for understanding the true meaning of the incident are left out, sharpened - the details that remain are made more specific and then assimilated - the story was changed so it made more sense to those spreading the rumour.

We are actually powerfully influenced by our surroundings, our immediate context, and the personalities of those around us.

The world - much as we want it to - do not accord with our intuition. Those who are successful at creating social epidemics do not just do what they think is right. They deliberately test their intuitions. (Oui! This is what I've been doing only just but Oh! it raises a tempest within me when, in the end, I reach the same answer!)