Hubbard
The book is full of many interesting facts and potential explanations for larger-scale social phenomena. Gladwell more or less argues on the whole that epidemics (both the literal virus kind as well as social ones) are governed mainly by three distinct levers, each of which are in our power as a community/nation/world to control (or, at the very least, observe). Consequently, we ought to be taking responsibility for epidemics more than we currently do; if they aren't truly random, unpredictable events, the people in position to observe and change the influencing factors are inevitably responsible at least in part for what happens, be it the rise of America's acceptance toward gay marriage or the opioid epidemic.
While I found the arguments sensible, I was somewhat disappointed in the glaring omission of counterexamples, raising of other potential explanations to be considered, or any attempts to otherwise round out the position by accounting for and rebutting objections. At times it felt like the evidence being brought up had been found by the author looking for statistics and events to support his claims, rather than truly considering both sides.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I learned some fun facts (did you know some people spread COVID 20x more effectively than others?), but I can't take the conclusions entirely seriously (or reject them entirely) without considering them more deeply than what's presented in the book.
The book is full of many interesting facts and potential explanations for larger-scale social phenomena. Gladwell more or less argues on the whole that epidemics (both the literal virus kind as well as social ones) are governed mainly by three distinct levers, each of which are in our power as a community/nation/world to control (or, at the very least, observe). Consequently, we ought to be taking responsibility for epidemics more than we currently do; if they aren't truly random, unpredictable events, the people in position to observe and change the influencing factors are inevitably responsible at least in part for what happens, be it the rise of America's acceptance toward gay marriage or the opioid epidemic.
While I found the arguments sensible, I was somewhat disappointed in the glaring omission of counterexamples, raising of other potential explanations to be considered, or any attempts to otherwise round out the position by accounting for and rebutting objections. At times it felt like the evidence being brought up had been found by the author looking for statistics and events to support his claims, rather than truly considering both sides.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I learned some fun facts (did you know some people spread COVID 20x more effectively than others?), but I can't take the conclusions entirely seriously (or reject them entirely) without considering them more deeply than what's presented in the book.