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

by Malcolm Gladwell

Urban air pollution is a perfect example of a problem caused by the Few. But we behave as if it’s a problem caused by all of us. No one wants to act on the asymmetry, and it’s not hard to understand why: Singling out a handful of big-time polluters would make the job of the people who worry about Denver’s air quality a lot harder. What if the people pulled over were disproportionately poor? What if they couldn’t afford to get their cars fixed? Do you confiscate their cars if they don’t comply? What if the police balk at being asked to enforce antipollution laws? What if environmentally minded groups take matters into their own hands, buy a Stedman box, and start shaming motorists as they pass by? Moving from the position that a problem belongs to all of us to the position that a problem is being caused by a few of us is really difficult. And we are so intimidated by that difficulty, apparently, that we’d rather breathe dirty air.