The World's Best Book Summaries
Aviation safety has improved dramatically in the last few decades. What elements can we credit for the increased safety of planes? While knowledge and advanced technology have certainly played their part, we might have a simple checklist to thank for improved airplane safety. Learn why.
What does “channel capacity” mean? How much information is the brain able to store? What does this mean about the number of relationships we’re able to maintain? Channel capacity is a term in cognitive psychology that says humans have limited space in our brains for certain kinds of information: by and large, we can only remember six or seven things — whether objects, numbers, categories, or sounds — before we get overwhelmed and start to lose track. Similarly, social channel capacity states that we have a limited emotional capacity. We can only maintain deep relationships with a limited number of
What effect do negative role models have on kids? How do “permission-givers” affect children and teens when it comes to smoking? We’ll explore why negative role models can be so influential. Understanding the mechanisms behind this influence may be the first step toward change.
How does our environmental context, the changes in our setting, affect our behavior? Can subtle changes in our environments determine whether or not an idea or product catches on? We’ll cover the science behind how your environmental context affects your behavior and look at a surprising example of the ways subtle changes in our environmental context and affect you.
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell explains how social epidemics — spreading ideas, messages, behaviors, and products — function like viruses, growing gradually until they reach a critical mass (the tipping point) and explode. What are some good tipping-point examples? We’ll look at two powerful tipping-point examples from Gladwell’s book and discuss how epidemics occur in both the medical and social worlds.
What are the causes of teenage smoking? How can we prevent teenage smoking? We’ll use the principles of epidemics to explore possible solutions to the problem of teen smoking.
How are depression and isolation connected? How has social isolation increased with advances in technology? What is the link between social isolation and suicide? We’ll cover the rise of isolation in the Information Age and how depression and isolation reinforce each other and can become contagious.
What are clean needle exchanges? Do they work in combatting HIV/AIDS? We’ll cover the effectiveness of clean needle exchanges in Baltimore and look at how they utilize the diffusion model to increase access to clean syringes and lower HIV rates.
What is a tipping point? What does “tipping point” mean? How are tipping points related to epidemics? How can you use the theory of tipping points to spread your ideas? A tipping point is a critical moment when a minor change makes all the difference. This is the point at which a movement reaches a boiling point or critical mass and explodes. We’ll cover the meaning of “tipping point” in Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point and explore examples that answer the question, What is a tipping point?
What is the Kevin Bacon game? How is it played? Where did the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon come from? Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon) is a game in which you attempt to link any Hollywood actor to Kevin Bacon is six steps or fewer. The game came out of the six degrees of separation theory. We’ll cover how to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and what the game says about how we’re all connected.