We are all used to hearing about the threat of deadly epidemics looming just over the horizon (such as Avian flu). Indeed, they certainly give us great cause for concern. But have you ever stopped to consider that ideas and behaviour are just a bit like epidemics too? That is one of the messages that Gladwell conveys in his book "The Tipping Point".
"Ideas and behavior and messages and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease...they are social epidemics."
http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html
I must be totally honest and admit that I have not yet read "The Tipping Point", but it is in my top ten list of books to read this year. If you have any comments to make about tipping points that interest you, I'd love to hear about them.
cheers,
Tam
2 comments:
Thanks for the "tip" Tamara....sounds like a good book to add to my own Blog...I must watch for it!
I'm in the middle of a book by John Ralston Saul called The Unconcious Civilation. His thesis (as far as I can tell) is that we have let ourselves become unconscious and unquestioning in our behaviour, and that we are ok with corporatists taking over our society and democracy and plying us with ideological nonsense. Utopias are just around the corner, and deadly threats are likewise present if we don't tow the line - or something like that. I know this is loosly related to your post but it seems to me that this ideological warfare is the biggest infection that has broken out since the black plague, and it's not hard to see where it is taking us.
More food for thought, thanks for your post.
Susan Elizabeth
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