Tipping points, memes, and other stuff.

Tipping points, memes, and other stuff.

The tipping point is a theory I instantly loved as soon as I heard about it. The tipping point refers to a point where change is manifested in a society. The clearest example I’ve read is the percentage at which a neighbourhood’s Caucasian population moves from the neighbourhood. In some areas, the tipping point was 30%. It was used as a predictor of behavior in similar neighbourhoods to where the study had taken place. Neighbourhoods that were home to a higher socio-economic class had lower tipping points than those of a lower socio-economic class. It’s kind of like reaching the boiling point. Obama’s victory in the US is the work of several tipping points all coinciding brilliantly. Being black was not the negative it would have been 20 years ago. Being young, same deal.

And just recently I’ve been reading about memes. I’m still not sure of the proper pronunciation ~ I’ve seen it phonetically spelled out in every possible way ~ and I see a real connection between tipping points and memes. When I did read about memes, I realized I already knew what they were, I’d noticed them myself, but I didn’t realize that there was a common word for this phenomenon that I’d long been aware of. Memes are virus ideas really. A meme is an idea that spreads rapidly from one person to the next, like a flu virus. Some memes become epidemics, some have mild outbreaks and some are pandemic. For me, I see memes as accelerating tipping points, either by lowering the actual tipping point itself or by rapidly increasing the number of people needed to reach the existing tipping point. This is no doubt not a new notion, but still an interesting one to watch unfold.

And the other stuff? Guess there isn’t any.

Yet.