The Tipping Point Gladwell Summary

According to Gladwell, “the tipping point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point". The book for the most part seeks to explain and describe the "mysterious" sociological changes that mark everyday life. As it is stated by Gladwell, "ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do". When we critically think about the idea of viruses and how fast they spread, we can understand how powerful Gladwell’s statement really is. All it takes is a single person in the room to spread something as huge as an epidemic, the same in our everyday life, a simple small idea can be the starting point of a big trend. This of course takes place today in our everyday life and is supported by Gladwell’s examples.
Coming

from a family with a long history of soccer as well as I, myself, being a soccer player from a young age, soccer has been the sport to play and watch throughout the years. For as long as I can remember, soccer has been my hobby and to this day it continues to be. From playing High School Varsity soccer to now playing for fun and managing my own co-ed team, soccer definitely plays an important role in my day to day life. Just like every other soccer fan my family and I impatiently wait four years for the biggest soccer event; every four years the World Cup takes place and is hosted by different countries all around the world. Of course, it is an event every soccer fan must watch because it is the representation of what the sport is about, how important the sport is to society and how it impacts society overall. The World Cup is considered the most important soccer event held because it features National Teams from all over the world and to many individuals the World Cup even signifies patriotism for their country. However, over the years, the sport has become critical due to mistakes that have emerged from the misreporting of goals from referees. This has caused tremendous commotion and disappointment amongst soccer fans because it unfairly determines the outcome of the game.
As Gladwell states in his book, the tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold and subsequently spreads with incredible speed through society.

He uses the representation of a sick individual in a crowded store and how one single individual can start an epidemic of the flu as well as can a small but precisely targeted push start a fashion trend or cause the popularity of a new restaurant to take off overnight, or cause crime or drug use to taper off. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell claims how very minor adjustments in products and ideas can make them more likely to become immensely popular. He reveals how easy it is to cause group behavior to tip in a desired direction by making small changes in the immediate environment. When we apply the idea of tipping point in soccer, goal line technology definitely seems on the verge of "tipping”. The reason behind the emergence of the idea of goal line technology was the outcome of several games played in previous world cups that would have definitely had a different final score if such small mistakes would not have been made. The idea of goal line technology has been suggested in order to terminate the mistakes made by the referees in the past and accurately determine if goals have been made or not. The initiation of technology to determine more clearly if the goals are valid or not can definitely become immensely popular and perhaps attract more fans to watch the games because they will not be disappointed with the unfortunate results caused by minor

mistakes.
One of the most recent world cups which took place in South Africa in 2010 was a controversial one especially for those fans who felt as if they were robbed by the referees. During this World Cup there were several cases in which several teams had perfectly good goals disallowed when the officials failed to spot that shots had crossed the line or of teams who scored from an offside position but the goal was not disallowed. Even my family was upset at the outcome of certain matches pertaining their favorite team because one of those mistakes took place during the game. All of these issues along with complaints from fans urged the FIFA federation to come up with a solution that will help diminish these issues. Once again, as Gladwell explains, something so small can start something as big as an epidemic, the same idea applies to the goal line technology; small mistakes such as the misreporting of a goal can be the start of something that can eventually lead to a huge trend such as the use of goal line technology. Perhaps, the 2010 World Cup can be considered the tipping point for the introduction of more advanced technology in soccer. This new technology not only improves the accuracy of the standings but also assures fans all over the world that their team will not be affected negatively. After all the commotion caused by the failure of certain referees, bringing the idea of technology in order to better assist the reporting of goals definitely draws fans to gain trust again.
I believe al the disallowed goals could be a similar turning point for the game of soccer. I think there has never been a stronger case to introduce some level of goal monitoring technology. If we tried to debate the issue all the mistakes made and the outcomes it created after it happened there would be no point in doing so because it would not change the results. This idea of the goal line technology generated from the tipping point of the World Cup’s mistakes of referees who could no longer keep up with the pace of the game and their eyes missed important points of the game. As of today, it is more than evident that time for change has come because the most recent world cup in 2014 was supported by the introduction of technology. Again, this supports the idea of how little things can make a difference in a world where mistakes are often made. Something as small as not being able to correctly see a goal has led to something as big as introducing technology in order to have accurate results to assist referees.