Tipping Point

I just handed in the critical book review for Tipping Point.  It was a very interesting book, and I enjoyed reading it.  Despite this, I am somewhat skeptical of some of the claims Gladwell makes in the book.  A lot of times it seemed that he was observing phenomena after it occurred and then making a theory about it.  He used very specific examples that supported his ideas, and the examples were very segmented and did not complement each other.  Some of the claims he made have some real validity, such as his thoughts about the Law of the Few, Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.  Even though some of these were fascinating examples, it is hard to look at his findings as hard scientific facts.  No statistics professor would approve of his casual observations and non-random sampling as viable evidence for any scientific or behavioral theories.  The most difficult part for me to believe was the all-powerful effect of context.  Although situation and environmental contexts definitely have an impact in our decision-making, it is impractical to believe these can overwhelm all of our core beliefs and attitudes.  This can definitely happen in some cases, but there are numerous times where people stand by their values despite situational pressures.  Even if some people do cave under environmental contexts, it is most definitely not the case every time, and does not play a factor as much as Gladwell says it does.  The Goetz shooting example is an excellent point of this.  Despite the fact that having cleaner streets, cracking down on fare-beating and other misdemeanors, and removing graffiti from cars might help to improve the environment and lessen the chance of crime, it is entirely ludicrous to me to assume that if this had been in place, the shooting never would have occurred.  You cannot simply toss out Goetz's mental instability, previous bad experiences, and entirely cruel and racist views and say the most integral part of his choices was the environment.  The man was a psychopath, and no sane, moral person would have reacted towards the 4 youths as he did.  Putting the blame on his environment is a cheap way of removing personal responsibility from Goetz, and instead placing it on the world around him.  He made the choice to give in to rage and act in a unprovoked, extremely violent, and cruel manner, and you will not convince me for a minute of any situational issues, contextual power, or any other mumbo jumbo as the reason for his criminal acts.  In extreme cases, context can have a significant power, but it does not override the free will of humans.  We have a choice to respond in a moral manner or not, and you cannot put the blame on external stimuli or bad environment.  People make choices, and are ultimately responsible for the things they do.  I guess I got on a bit of tangent, but I think it is necessary to point out the differences between fact and theory.  If we as humans are truly doomed to never be able to overcome our environment and surroundings, then we might as well give up the fight to stop cruelty, murder, crime, etc.  We have no way to defeat our natural instincts if we are only animals reacting to external stimuli.  But I believe there is more to people than pure animal instinct, and there are greater things that govern human behavior.   "For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 7:17-21.  That's my two cents