A fascinating and eye-opening essay by Malcolm Gladwell about the factors leading to social epidemics. The underlying assumption is that, in order to understand the rise of hypes, one has to think of them as epidemics, as new trends, behaviours, ideas, products spread like viruses do. The three rules of the Tipping Point are: the Law of the Few, the Stickness Factor, the Power of Context, which wins the initial "inertia" and create the snowballs. There are two main lessons, which one can derive from the essay. First lesson: starting epidemics requires concentrating resources in a few key areas (and Connectors, Mavens, Salesmen play a pivotal role here). Second lesson: the world doesn't accord with our intuition. The people can transform their behaviours or beliefs if confronted with the right impetus (environment, acquaintances, other circumstamces, etc.). In the end, although the world seems unmoveable, with the right slightest push it can be tipped.
