Commentary On This Surprised Me By Malcolm Gladwell

The purpose that the author had in writing this was to show people how and why some idea, trend, or behavior spreads throughout society. Another reason is to show how greatly people are influenced by there surrounding rather than their own genes and personality. A passage in this book that really shows that was on page 165: "...a seminary student literally stepped over the victim as he hurried on his way." This surprised me because I would think a seminary student who is good to give a speech about helping others would be able to help out someone clearly in need. I was very interested in how this man, regardless of how good of a man he was, was influenced strongly by the fact that he was in a hurry. Because of the fact that he was in a hurry, he did not take the time to help the victim on the street. There were two other quotes that stood out to me in the second half of the book. The first quote, on page 154 stats, " There are specific situations so powerful that the can overwhelm our inherent predispositions." This applies to the same idea that the current situation that you are in will drastically effect what choices you make. Another quote that stood out to

Gladwell did an exceptional job by getting his point across. This entire book shows the three main factors of spreading an epidemic. The law of the few with the Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen; the Stickiness factor that deals with the content of the message; and the power of context, which explains how important the environment and surroundings are in an epidemic. For each of these factors, there are many examples clearly supporting how they are vital to spreading the epidemic. Each of these examples powerfully describe how important that surrounding are. By doing this, both of the purposes that Gladwell had are clear and