Last week during the Cafe Series, Professor Blalock came to speak to us on “why isn’t technology helping the poor?” First he started off using the Prius as an analogy. Almost everyone in the audience agreed that electric cars are better for the environment. However, despite that, the majority of the people in the audience, except for a few didn’t electric cars at all. We discussed how there are many factors that influence one’s decisions to buy more environmentally friendly goods; in the Prius’ case, it included style, cost, and functionality. Thus, even though everyone accepts as a fact that while certain consumer decisions are better for the greater good, they might not be beneficial if not used correctly. Prof Blalock called this a problem of collective action, in which individuals don’t take action for a greater cause because they believe their individual action would not have an impact on the cause in the long run. This ultimately leads to a chain of inaction. The analogy is difficult because although everyone knows the positive impact of electric cars, it’s unreasonable for many of us/our families to just buy one because it’s good for the environment. Cars are huge luxury goods, and many families can only afford one or two cars at most, and it’s unpractical to expect families with cars already to trade them in for a Prius. Although none of us should feel bad for not owning a Prius, it goes to show how difficult it is for people to change their lifestyles even when a better alternative exists.

Regardless, the Prius analogy represents a larger issue of a cause that Professor Blalock has been working on, which is the use of cooking stoves in Uganda. The story is nearly identical to the one he spoke about last year, which is detailed in a blog post I made previously. But the underlying issue is still present. Even though many of those people bought the cleaner, more efficient stoves, they stopped using them in the long run. This might be likely due to familiarity with the three rock stoves and inability to adapt and use the newer stoves. Prof Blalock’s story shows that new technology and innovation might not always be the best solution, as there exists psychological barriers that prevent people from fully utilizing them. Perhaps now what’s important is not just the development and sale of new technology, but how to make their functionality more accessible to more people.