I’m fascinated with tipping points, those magical pivots when there is a step-change in the way the world operates. Once we cross over them, we can’t ever go back. They assure that progress has been made and will continue. To illustrate some profound tipping points, Brian told me about the idea of the 100th monkey and trees slowly exposed to toxins.
If a tree is slowly exposed to a toxin, it develops an immunity to the toxin. In a strange turn of events that science cannot explain, all trees of that same species develop the immunity even though they haven’t been exposed to the toxin. Somehow the trees communicate – be it through the soil or the air or the water supply. They are all connected.
At some point, a monkey figured out that if he dipped a stick into an ant hill, he could capture more ants to eat. Eventually, enough monkeys learned this trick that it became something that monkeys just knew how to do, from birth, with no training. Again, science has no explanation for this. Monkeys, thousands of miles apart, even on different continents, somehow tap into the greater genius when a certain tipping point of intelligence is reached within the species. It is truly remarkable.
Think of the implications that this kind of uber-intelligence has for us. What kind of world could we have if we could reach a tipping point of kindness, concern, compassion, and love? If our generation could put aside violence and have a restored faith in humanity, what would that mean for the many generations yet to be born? Is saving the world possible simply by enough of us saving ourselves?
Published by Christa Avampato
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
I’m fascinated with tipping points, those magical pivots when there is a step-change in the way the world operates. Once we cross over them, we can’t ever go back. They assure that progress has been made and will continue. To illustrate some profound tipping points, Brian told me about the idea of the 100th monkey and trees slowly exposed to toxins. 
Many of us in the spiritual/metaphysical/healing/woo-woo community have based our lives on exactly this premise. The whole 2012 thing (the end of the Mayan calender) is all about finally reaching that tipping point when enough people have have saved themselves to save the world. The thinking is that rather than the world literally coming to an end, the world as we know it will come to an end.
This is a post I have written about that “magical” time. http://scottfree2b.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/2b-or-not-2b-changed/
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Trish! I love this post about that magical time. How incredible – I love knowing we’re all connected on such a deep level.
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This is an amazing thought. I think I read about the monkey one time in National Geographic. The implications are mind-boggeling. Nay-sayers argued that enough monkeys learned the trick individually and taught their progeny, but it doesn’t explain every one of them everywhere absorbing it. I prefer to be the optimist. And the matter of the toxins and the trees supports the uber-intelligence theory. I would imagine that the phenomenon repeats itself in other venues as well. It would be fun to explore it.
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PS: maybe this is the reason that humanity has survived — that enough of us have offset the negative and more debased of our own species to make a difference. We’re already exuding the best we have to offer, we just need to step up the pace!
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I agree, Mom. I hope in terms out humanity and care for one another that we have reached a tipping point. xoxo
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Christa, I love this:
“Is saving the world possible simply by enough of us saving ourselves?”
I believe the answer is yes.
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I believe it, too, Amanda. Go us!
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Christa:
I read about this experiment several years ago. If memory serves, it had received widespread media coverage.
Thanks for reminding me with your fabulous post…
I like to be optimistic too, but there is so much war and violence in our world. And now we seem to be on a collision course with the earth, wind and sky. Think global warming.
Think climate change and spending billions on arms, while most people live on less than a dollar a day world-wide.
Reaching “critical mass” is easier to dream about than to achieve. Discussion at summits over champagne, caviar and expensive cigars, I am afraid, ain’t gonna cut it.
Today, we need somebody like Mahatma Gandhi to guide us. Somebody with his stature and charisma for people to follow. Our elected leaders need to lead by example, so we know we can trust them to make necessary changes.
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