1. What method did Georgia Sadler find to tip her diabetes/cancer campaign? Would you classify her as a connector, maven, or salesman? Sadler used beauty salons to get her message out. She gathered together a group of stylists from the city for a training session and coached them on how to present their information about breast cancer in a compelling manner. Sadler kept a constant cycle of new information and gossipy tidbits and conversational starters about breast cancer flowing into the salon. She took what resources she had and put them all into one critical place -- the beauty salon. I would classify Georgia Saddler as a Maven, she had the information and wanted to spread it.
2. What is Gladwell’s view of a Band-Aid solution? The Band-Aid is an inexpensive, convenient, and remarkably versatile solution to an astonishing array of problems. The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.
3. What two lessons does he mention from the Tipping Point? The first lesson he mentions from the Tipping Point is that we reframe the way we think about the world. The second lesson is that the world does not accord with our intuition.
Afterword. Tipping Point Lessons from the Real World
1. How might the AIDS epidemic have been better combated if it had been examined as a social phenomenon? The AIDS epidemic is a social phenomenon. It spreads because of the beliefs and social structures and poverty and prejudices and personalities of a community, and sometimes getting caught up in the precise biological characteristics of a virus merely serves as a distraction. We might have halted the spread of AIDS far more effectively just by focusing on those beliefs and social structures and poverty and prejudices and personalities.
2. What does Gladwell mean when he writes that “we are about to enter the age of word of mouth” (on page 264)? I think what Gladwell means is that with all of the sophistication and limitless access to information of the New Economy is going to lead us to rely more on very primitive kinds of social contacts - word of mouth. Relying on the Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen in our life is the way we deal with the complexity of the modern world.
3. What does Gladwell mean by the phrase “the Age of Isolation”? The "Age of Isolation" is that we have given teens a world ruled by the logic of word of mouth, by the contagious messages that teens pass among themselves. We have given teens more time to spend with their peers - and less time to spend with adults.
4. What is Gladwell’s take on school shootings like Columbine? Gladwell's take on school shooting is that these are epidemics in iisolation: they follow a mysterious, internal script that makes sense only in the closed world that teenagers inhabit.
5. What is the “fax effect”? How does “immunity” negate the “fax effect”? The "Fax effect" is also known as the law of plenitude. When something scarce becomes plentiful, it loses value. "Immunity" negates the "Fax effect" because when people are overwhelmed with information and develop immunity to traditional forms of communication, they turn instead for advice and information to the people in their lives whom they respect, admire, and trust.
