Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point emphasizes three rules of epidemics, catalysts for change which provide significant shifts in economic and social culture. First there is the "Law of the Few," where most of the work is performed by fewer people: connectors, who provide a linking experience between people of the world, and connect people socially; salesmen, who persuade people to believe what they say, and so on. The stickiness factor is described as the permeability of a message - just how easily it can get stuck in people's heads. Finally there is the power of context, where the environment is what determines people's behavior and habits.
In Freakonomics, economics is also explained in a number of factors, including the importance of data mining. With data mining, information gleaned from the Internet is used to fuel marketing and advertising, as well as other aspects of economics such as demographics and market research. Levitt and Dubner, the book's authors, emphasize economics as a study of what makes people do things. In their minds, Gladwell's "Fixing Broken Windows" effect has a result of making crime fall whenever the physical environment is fixed and upscaled; this sociological effect is at the heart of the discussion in this book.
Both books discuss the ins and outs of why sociological change happens; while they do it in different ways, their core ideas involve the implementation and spread of ideas, such as the need to behave in a less criminal way when the neighborhood looks nicer. The use of role models and information gathering by a select few are mentioned by both books as factors that bring about societal change.
Works Cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. The tipping point: how little things can make a big difference. Boston: Little, Brown, 2000. Print.
Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. New York: William Morrow, 2005. Print.
