ENGL 1013 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Malcolm Gladwell, Internet Activism, Real Change
27 Aug 2016
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Gladwell initiates his argument by deceptively playing devil"s advocate, by presenting the argument that the internet works well as not only a catalyst but ultimately the core and nexus of activism in places like moldova, tehran and the us. He then expounds upon the mississippi freedom summer project of 1964, and concludes that activism that challenges the status quo that attacks deeply rooted problems is not for the faint of heart. He takes the example of sameer bhatia, who needed a bone transplant for her leukemia. Gladwell maintains that the evangelists of social media do not understand the difference between motivation and participation; moreoever, he claims that participation is (mathematically) reciprocal to motivation quite directly, that increased participation is achieved via numbed motivation. He argues that, from a philosophical and historical perspective, centralized networks are effective at initiating real change.
