Book Review: The Tipping Point

I've been reading The Tipping Point recently and it's been really fascinating. He's basically exploring the phenomenon of epidemics, i.e.: when something suddenly goes from being practically nonexistent to being a REALLY BIG DEAL over-night.

One section that was particularly interesting to me was when he looked into the "Six Degrees of Separation" theory. He says that it's not really the number of people that connect you to someone else that matters, but rather that certain people making up those connections are really, really influential, much more than some of the other connections might be. We all know people who seem to know everyone. Those are the types of people who can cause the popularity of something to suddenly tip towards the positive or negative. While you or I might tell 3 people about a fun, new restaurant we've encountered, for example, these connector types might tell 30 or 40 or 100 people. This is how epidemics are born.

Anyway, that's what I'm reading while I'm procrastinating my homework. It's funny how even when you love something, you still need a brain-break from it! I think that's a necessary part of the creative process though. And if you think about it, the more varying things and ideas we experience, the larger the mental pool of resources is that we can tap into to help us create something new!