Proving The Importance of the Individual
admin on 05 23, 2009
I’ve been reading this article titled “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” and it’s very interesting to relate how the study of epidemics can relate to factors that influence social change, as well as the importance and relevance of an individual-centered education as proposed by Prof Al-Attas in his book “The Concept of Education”.
In a nutshell, Malcolm Gladwell talks about how the syphilis problem in Baltimore relates to the factors that influence social change, and he sums up his argument in 3 points:
1) The virus carriers aka the people
2) The infectious virus itself
3) The environment in which the virus operates
This relates to 3 theories of social change, which are:
1) The rule of the few (the people)
2) The Stickiness factor (the virus)
3) The Power of Context (the environment)
What we mean by the rule of the few is that the syphilis epidemic is not caused by a large mass of people who suddenly become promiscuous or sexually active. Rather, the virus is being propagated by several individuals who are exceptionally promiscuous as compared to the norm.
Social ‘epidemics’ work the same way. They are driven by the efforts of a handful of exceptional people. People who are exceptionally sociable or influential, or knowledgable among their peers.
In economics term, this can relate to the 80/20 principle, an idea which roughly estimates that 80% of any ‘work’ will be done by 20% of the participants.
This exemplifies the power of the individual. Individuals who are exceptionally brilliant are the ones who are able to tip the balance in society. These handful people are the ones responsible for change.
So when I talk about the influence of Al-Ghazali in the victory of Salahuddin Al-Ayubbi in the Crusades, this is what exactly I mean.
The power of the individual. And hence the importance of the intellectuals.
Think about it.
And what we mean by the Stickiness factor is that in relation to virology, epidemics are also caused not only by the influence of a few select carriers. It also happens when the virus evolves or mutates to become stronger and more resistant to antibodies inherent in the body, or antibiotics present in current medical technology.
As such, in relation to social change, the stickiness factor relates to the idea of change itself and how marketable it is to the masses. And when we talk about how marketable it is, it doesn’t just relate to how ‘infectious’ the idea is, but rather how much it sticks to the mind, how much it enters the ear without going out into the other ear.
Our da’is and scholars of Islam, especially those who come from the traditionalist school of thought, would then have to think of ways on how we can market Islam and the notion of adab to the masses after sufficiently producing enough influential individuals or ‘carriers’ to propagate it.
We then arrive at the 3rd factor which is the Power of context. Sexual epicemics interestingly subside during the winter, because individuals propagating it are less sexual active during this period. This is because it is harder to travel to bars and clubs where such vices take place.
Interestingly also, in the context of crime witnesses in urban areas, it is also found that when people are in a group, the responsibility to report a crime is being diffused among the individuals in the group. As such, the probability of the crime being reported becomes significantly lesser. Ironically, this probability increases with lesser number of witnesses.
Think about our road accidents. When there are so many cars witnessing the accidents, the probability that none of them reporting the incident is higher. This is because each driver assumes that the other would report it, and in the end, nobody does that. However, when only one driver witnesses the accident, all the moral responsibility falls onto that one person, resulting in him/her reporting the incident.
Moral of the story? The environment in which an idea of change is propagated also plays a major influence in how much it can be propagated.
The notion of adab and solving root problems in society is the responsibility of those living in peaceful countries where intellectual activity is vibrant and rich, as compared to those war-torn areas where food and safety becomes the priority as compared to intellectualism.
We live in a globalised world people. Let’s seize this opportunity to spread the good word of Islam by taking advantage of the environment we are blessed with; information technology and peace.
And peace be upon you…
