Gladwell, inspired by the sociologist Mark Granovetter, uses sports, more specifically a comparison and contrast of two basketball players, to make his argument that people's thresholds for going against society's norms and values dictate our ability to adapt to good ideas. By using comparison and contrast, as well as appeal to authority, Gladwell is able to prove his argument that in order to succeed and take on good ideas, we must step out of our comfort zones, ignore peer pressure and give new ideas a chance.
Malcolm Gladwell uses appeal to authority to theorize why good ideas dont spread among people because their thresholds are too high. He refers to Mark Granovetter, “one of the greatest social theorist” by including his theory on the thresholds of collective behaviour. Granovetter believes that people make their decisions,…show more content… Barry was considered to be “one of the greatest foul shooters of all time, maybe the greatest”, and he was one of the few players to shoot underhanded. Many people avoided shooting this way because it is referred to as the “granny shot” and players are afraid of looking foolish and unmanly. Although because Barry has a low threshold he was able to adapt to good ideas more easily than others. Chamberlain on the other hand, had a very high threshold. He was also an amazing basketball player but he struggled with his foul shots. During one season, Chamberlain remarkably decided to try something new and shoot underhanded. That day he broke NBA history by making 28 free throw shots in one game. Chamberlain was able to go against society's norms, adopt this new idea and fix one of his main flaws as a basketball player. Although sadly after this game, because of his high threshold, Chamberlain stopped shooting underhanded and went back to being a horrible free throw
