Another Book

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point. The book looks at life through a different lens. The lens is not Christian in any way, but parts of the book are the product of sincere research.

The book's premise is that little things can have big effects, and Gladwell, in the pages of his book, provides evidence to support such a premise. He writes of epidemics and pandemics and how little things provide the means of tipping something out of equilibrium. Gladwell believes that there are three agents of this type of change: the law of the few, the stickiness factor and the power of context. He spends the majority of the book explaining each in great detail. I do take exception with some of the arrived conclusions of his analysis of the research, but, in the same light, the author does not shy away from presenting research that goes against current public sentiment.

The lessons of the tipping point are many. Epidemics and pandemics are tipped by a few elements, but the tipping happens because there is present, in many, a belief in change that is possible. Again, like other non-Christian authors who seek reality in an honest and sincere way, Gladwell stumbles onto some Christian truth. For instance, Gladwell writes that "people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus." He states the if you look at the world, "it may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push - in just the right place - it can be tipped." Does this sound familiar?

This is a well written book. I do not ascribe to all the premises put forth in these pages, but the book will force you to look at life in a different light. And, that is something we all need in our lives. Blessings!