In the year 2000 he wrote "The Tipping Point" which rocketed him to fame. A few other books got my attention. "The Revenge of the Tipping Point" elaborates further on how things work.
Tipping point is the point where some idea barely noticed rapidly gains popularity. He helps us better understand the process
Epidemics love monocultures, that is cultures with few or any variations. One example was cheetahs who eventually were almost reduced to only one female meaning that each subsequent generation had the same set of genes. This resulted in extreme difficulties for breeding. In their efforts to breed cheetahs they brought them into close contact with one another and somehow one caught a fatal disease common only with domestic cats. It created a deadly epidemic spurred on by the common gene pool.
Another example was provided by a high school district that was noted for high marks and stellar achievements. The students were clean cut and studious, but through freaky events one student committed suicide. It wasn't too long before suicides became a regular ocurence.
The concept of super spreaders was displayed with Covid epidemic. Coughing and sneezing were considered prime causes, but delving into it further and learned that merely talking could spread it. Furthermore they learned that rare humans could be what might be called super spreaders.
The Holocaust provided a surprising example of an initially slow moving trend that reached epidemic proportions. The survivors of the Holocaust were embarrassed and wanted to forget it. A group of 3 living in Los Angeles wanted to forget their time in concentration camps and decided to put their mementos into a museum., known as the "Martyrs Memorial Museum". It turned out to be more popular than anticipated, but it was another twenty two years before anyone else was willing to open a similar museum. In 1984 four museums opened and afterwards a series of what were now known as Holocaust Museums opened. Gladwell identifies two tv executives who decided it was time to present a mini series on the Holocaust. Prior to that there had been a few references in historical literature. The idea became acceptable, even urgent for some people.
Gay marriage is an example of how quickly a tipping point can be reached when the Overstory changes. Gladwell credits television with softening up general attitudes. Although there were references to gay character they were generally off to the side. Will & Grace won over a good segment of the population. Once the overstory was changed legislators found it much easier to make for more tolerant laws and authorize gay marriage. It all happened in about a ten year period.
Harvard athletic scholarships According to Gladwell, universities were aware of a tipping point and had decided they wanted to avoid minorities reaching it. The net result is that athletes with lower academic credentials are favored over minorities who also have lower academic credentials.
The opioids crisis is at the beginning and then apparently not mentioned until near the end. But actually some of the forces that helped bring about the crisis are explored in a seemingly random way. It all makes sense in the end.
Many of Gladwell's conclusions are reached by taking thought from different scientific studies. The problem is that scientists are so specialized and are often unaware of relevant other specialties. We might think of Gladwell as a generalist. He does look at problems and approaches them from a wider perspective. Specialists are definitely important, but the world needs intelligent generalists as much.
You have to read the book to really appreciate his method of connecting different topics to make a point stronger.
A previous blog http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/01/talking-to-strangers.html
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