The Tipping Point Blog Post

The first reading was from “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” written by Malcolm Gladwell. In this reading Gladwell questions trends that occur among humans such as the cause of the sudden popularity of Hush Puppies, the high suicide rate in Micronesia, and why teenagers smoke. He offers plausible explanations for each case but I was most interested in why he believed teenagers smoked. I thought it was interesting how he tried connecting it to different causes such as people in their lives, their sex drive and a desire of maturity. He explained that our society shows smoking as a thing for older people to do as well as “cool.” Because of these causes smoking rates have raised. I agree with his statement that smoking seems to show maturity since you have to be at least 18 to engage. I had never thought about it before but to a young child who wants to be a big kid it seems like the thing to do. Even the efforts made to reduce smoking rates seem to be encouraging it! In the article he stated that most smokers overestimate the harmful effects of smoking. The effort to inform smokers hasn’t made a huge impact. The second reading was “Your Local New – Dateline Delhi” written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich explains why she dislikes companies outsourcing to other countries. Her article’s tone is stern and passionate about the issue.