Today our House Dean, Professor Garrick Blalock, gave a talk at the rose cafe.  He started off the talk by pointing out the hypocrisy between our thoughts and actions when it comes to cars and the environment.  He then led us through a discussion explaining why we wouldn’t purchase a environmentally friendly car if we care about the environment.  The arguments against purchasing a environmentally friendly car made sense, but one thing seemed odd to me.  What did a Prius have to do with the claimed topic of the talk, “Barriers to Adoption: Why Technology Isn’t Helping the Poor and What Can We Do About It?”  It wasn’t until he began talking about the village that I realized that the discussion about the cars was to get our minds going and thinking the way it is necessary to think when discussing technology and why choosing the more technologically advanced and healthier/environmentally beneficial option is not always best.  It was sad to hear how the women in these small villages were using a method that was slowly killing them.  When he began to talk about the new, mechanical engineers design, cooking stove, I was surprised at how quickly we were able to determine its impractical nature.  While it would be healthier, it was in no way practical, like the environmentally friendly cars are for some people.