Chapter 4. The Power of Context (Part One): Bernie Goetz & the Rise & Fall of New York City Crime
1.Who is Bernhard Goetz?a very disturbed man who decided to take the law into his own hands and shot 4 young black men on the New York subway system in December of 1984.
2.Describe New York City in the 1980s—specifically crime and public transportation. According to Gladwell, what tipped the NYC crime epidemic?
New York City in the 1980s had a high rate of crime and the public transit system was in a shambles.I definitely would have had second thoughts about using the system or even living in New York City at the time.
#1-the Broken Window theory - minor problems started to be taken care of and the physical environment began to tip.
3.Explain the Broken Windows theory.Taking away minor 'eye-sores' so that the 'power of context' is changed.Little stuff begins to add up and the broken window theory overrides that.
4.Do you agree that “behavior is a function of social context” and that “what really matters is little things” (on page 150)?Yes- in school, if you don't keep trash, paper, books, backpacks picked up, pretty soon it takes on a life of its own and then bigger problems start to come out.Weird but true.
5.How did David Gunn, the new subway director, put the Broken Window theory into effect in New York City?He began cleaning up the subway cars and cleaning off the graffiti and did not let any car go out that had any graffiti on it.He wore away at the taggers until they gave up.
6.How did the new head of the transit police, William Bratton, aid Gunn with the Broken Window theory?Mass infiltration and visibility of police in the subway system - kept turnstiles working, people paid fares, no harassment while riding or waiting for cars, etc.
7.Describe the prison experiment. What do you make of the results?Random people applied to be involved in an experiment where they were either prisoners or guards but they did not know ahead of time what was going to really happen.
This has been done in classroom situations with devastating results - parents became up in arms about how it turned ugly quickly.And the same thing happened in this experiment - human nature under duress or influence can bring about some unexpected results.Unless you are highly trained to resist and have the fortitude, anyone can fall into this trap of 'the brain game'.
8.What effect does birth order have on personality?Within the family unit - you will see a definite 'pecking order' - oldest is usually bossy and domineering, the youngest is perceived as getting away with a lot more and coddled while the middle children learn to negotiate, make the peace or stay out of the way.Outside the family unit - the birth order may not be as plain to see but in time you can figure people out.
9.What is the Good Samaritan research and what do you think of it?The research is used to see if people are innately willing to help someone in need.
This scenario might be helpful as part of a training in empathy for people.It definitely shows how we relegate thought to our behavior in the immediate time.
10.Gladwell states that “…our inner states are the result of our outer circumstances” (on page 152).Do you believe that environment truly makes an impact on our actions?
Yes- how you react on your own versus how you react in a crowd situation is evident almost on a daily basis.Or what kind of environment we are placed in - can bring out the good or worst in us.
11.How do you define character?Look at how Gladwell defines it on page 163.Compare and contrast your thoughts to his.
Character - how you act, think or do things whether anyone is watching you or not.
A bundle of habits, tendencies, interests, loosely bound together and dependent, at certain times, on circumstances and context.We are really good at controlling our environment.
After reading some of the examples, I have to agree to some extent with what he is saying.Hope I don't have go through one of these experiments!
12.Do you follow your convictions and thoughts or the immediate context of your behavior?Give an example or two.
In the classroom, I follow my convictions and thoughts about certain issues.We have some pretty lively discussions - the kids thrive on critical thinking challenges.
I'm not a big fan of large social gatherings - a recent wedding of a nephew where it was 'putting on the Ritz' made me incredibly uncomfortable.Usually I will at least try to be sociable but not that evening.I felt like a caged animal. This was definitely the immediate context of my behavior.
Chapter 5. The Power of Context (Part Two): The Magic Number of One Hundred and Fifty
1.How did the Ya-Ya Sisterhood tip?It became a personal journey for a lot of women with their close friends, daughters and then maybe three generations.It invited reflection and discussion, too.
2.What is channel capacity?the amount of space in our brain for certain kinds of information.
3.What is Robin Dunbar’s argument about brain evolution?the primate and human brain is larger in order to handle the complexities of larger social groups.
4.What is the Rule of 150 and how do Gladwell’s examples support the validity of this rule?
The figure 150 represents the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of relationship that goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us.
She uses religious groups that split into smaller groups after reaching 150, Gore - a very successful company, military units, etc.Once you begin to think about it - it does make sense.That is why small schools usually provide such a good education to their clientele.
5.How did Gore become and stay so successful as a business?#1 they keep under the 150 per physical building, they don't have an executive division but uses the associates and everyone is 'on the playing field'.
6.Is Gore Associates a company more businesses should model?Do you think we’d see less corruption and job dissatisfaction if more companies subscribed to the Rule of 150 and Gore Associates’ philosophy?
Yes and it is proven that when a person has a 'buy in' to what they do, they are much happier and will to work with blood, sweat and tears to the end.Loyalty to the team effort is lacking in the USA right now.
7.What is transactive memory? Do you believe in the idea of family memory sharing?Examine your own family and see if the process holds true.
Transactive memory - storing memory somewhere else besides in our brain - we store it in things but we also store it in other people for retrieval.
Actually, when my family needs some kinds of information they call me because I am good at remembering who is related to who, where they grew up, went to school, who they married, etc.And yes, we depend on certain ones in the family to remember certain memories - oral history would die out if this didn't happen.
8.Take Gladwell’s quiz: List all the people you know whose death would leave you devastated.Does your list fall in line with Gladwell’s assumption about groups and time?
Yes- it does.
9.Think of groups you belong or belonged to. Do they fit into the Rule of 150?Describe each group’s dynamics.Would each group function better if it followed to the Rule of 150?
The groups I belong to are definitely less than 150 and most of these groups are pretty 'tight' and work well together.We have the usual fits and starts but it doesn't take much time to sort things out.
One place that I have witnessed groups getting too big, too fast is with churches that experience huge growth - in about two years they are in big trouble because they have lost the group.Leadership wasn't paying attention to the little things.!
