the tipping point

this is a very fun & insightful book. the author argues that social epidemics spread just like contagious viruses do. the tipping point occurs when a social trend crosses a threshold and then spreads like wildfire.

chapter four is an interesting chapter explaining the “fall of new york city crime”. in the 1980s new york experienced a crime epidemic that peaked in 1990, then went into a huge decline. key leaders in the nyc police department implemented the “broken windows” theory to combat this epidemic. the theory argues that broken windows left unrepaired send a message. the message is that this is a place where no one is in charge & no one cares. this is a place where anything goes & even serious crimes will go unpunished. the nyc police spent millions of dollars cracking down on small crimes, or “broken windows”. when they cleaned up the small crimes, violent crimes dropped dramatically. fixing those “broken windows” proved to remove the tipping point for violent crime.

this concept of “broken windows” & the tipping point forced me to think about the “broken windows” in my own life, the insignificant details that i tend to overlook. i was inspired to fix the small problems in order to prevent the bigger problems from occuring.