Human beings inherently change. The identity that defines a person is malleable, it is an empty canvas awaiting customization. The painter of that canvas has long been subject to great debate. The force that determines individual identity is argued back and forth between two competing paradigms, nature vs. nurture. The competing paradigms arise once more in evaluation of the contrasting works of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Power of Context and Barbara Fredrickson’s Love 2.0. Malcolm Gladwell’s Power of Context echoes many of the same progressive principles preached in the early twentieth century, he believes external factors such as the aspects of environment are the greatest determinants of identity. His “power of context” claims that behavior
…show more content…
Fredrickson references the work of Princeton professor Uri Hasson. His work describes how two people can find themselves on the same page as one another. His work draws distinct parallels with Malcolm Gladwell’s law of the few, thus making Fredrickson’s side weaker and Gladwell’s stronger. The interest the man at the airport takes in the woman telling her story about her prom night is not all that different from when people took interest in Peter Jennings and were influenced by him verbally and nonverbally. Fredrickson describes this phenomenon as, “ rarer moments when you truly connect with someone else over positivity - sharing a smile, a laugh, a common passion, or an engaging story - you become attuned” (113). Hasson’s experiment proved the effect positive emotion has on others, just as the studies on the newsmen did in Gladwell’s work. Gladwell classifies the law of the few as “Preferences and emotions - are actually powerfully and imperceptibly influenced by seemingly inconsequential personal influences” (157). In Fredrickson’s case the seemingly inconsequential personal influence was the woman in the airport. Furthermore, that girl in the airport whose mine clicked with the man’s was an external influence brought upon by environment. An external alteration to environment is what sparked the chain …show more content…
Human beings are more free in shaping their own identity according to Gladwell’s logic. External factors such as environment are the first domino in the set of many to fall. Without environment none of what Fredrickson proclaimed would be possible. The three determining factors she highlighted are shaped by environment. Oxytocin, for example, is released in human interaction. Human interaction is a two-way street. Oxytocin is released in person to person interaction (115), it cannot occur without someone else. Fredrickson’s stance on altering the self only bolsters Gladwell’s argument. In doing so, it can be concluded that human identity is defined by environment as Gladwell suggests. Nurture defines identity opposed to nature. With that in mind, it is time for change. The crime alerts received daily by Rutgers students are getting old fast. Walking home alone at night after a party should not leave a giant bullseye on the back of a student, but it does. RUPD can say they are stepping up enforcement all they want, but they cannot be on every street during every part of the evening. The change that could take place may not stop the current generation of street thugs robbing students, although it just might for the generation to follow. New Brunswick is a large city, like all big cities it has areas that are impoverished. The four teens on the train came
Fredrickson references the work of Princeton professor Uri Hasson. His work describes how two people can find themselves on the same page as one another. His work draws distinct parallels with Malcolm Gladwell’s law of the few, thus making Fredrickson’s side weaker and Gladwell’s stronger. The interest the man at the airport takes in the woman telling her story about her prom night is not all that different from when people took interest in Peter Jennings and were influenced by him verbally and nonverbally. Fredrickson describes this phenomenon as, “ rarer moments when you truly connect with someone else over positivity - sharing a smile, a laugh, a common passion, or an engaging story - you become attuned” (113). Hasson’s experiment proved the effect positive emotion has on others, just as the studies on the newsmen did in Gladwell’s work. Gladwell classifies the law of the few as “Preferences and emotions - are actually powerfully and imperceptibly influenced by seemingly inconsequential personal influences” (157). In Fredrickson’s case the seemingly inconsequential personal influence was the woman in the airport. Furthermore, that girl in the airport whose mine clicked with the man’s was an external influence brought upon by environment. An external alteration to environment is what sparked the chain …show more content…
Human beings are more free in shaping their own identity according to Gladwell’s logic. External factors such as environment are the first domino in the set of many to fall. Without environment none of what Fredrickson proclaimed would be possible. The three determining factors she highlighted are shaped by environment. Oxytocin, for example, is released in human interaction. Human interaction is a two-way street. Oxytocin is released in person to person interaction (115), it cannot occur without someone else. Fredrickson’s stance on altering the self only bolsters Gladwell’s argument. In doing so, it can be concluded that human identity is defined by environment as Gladwell suggests. Nurture defines identity opposed to nature. With that in mind, it is time for change. The crime alerts received daily by Rutgers students are getting old fast. Walking home alone at night after a party should not leave a giant bullseye on the back of a student, but it does. RUPD can say they are stepping up enforcement all they want, but they cannot be on every street during every part of the evening. The change that could take place may not stop the current generation of street thugs robbing students, although it just might for the generation to follow. New Brunswick is a large city, like all big cities it has areas that are impoverished. The four teens on the train came