Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering

by Malcolm Gladwell

An overstory is the upper layer of foliage in a forest, and the size and density and height of the overstory affect the behavior and development of every species far below on the forest floor. I think that small-area variation—such as what distinguishes Waldorf schools from other schools and what sets Boulder apart from Buffalo—is more like an overstory than a story.

Epidemics love monocultures.

When you are the only one of your kind, the world can’t see you as you.