Geek Heresy

April 1, 2015
A well-meaning but arid argument, by a former Microsoft executive and current MIT fellow, against the presumed Trojan horses of technology. Issuing an affordable laptop to every school kid will save the developing world, right? Well, probably not-and not even Nicholas Negroponte would say so. The argument Toyama advances contains or at least implies such straw men, for of course there are many other considerations: are skilled teachers available? Is learning valued at home? Will the girls of the village be allowed to learn how to work a spreadsheet, or will they be forbidden from doing so because, as Toyama cites in one case, such knowledge will drive up their dowry prices? Throwing technology at problems that are fundamentally social and cultural in nature, argues the author, will likely prove ineffectual; he coins a "Law of Amplification" to that end, namely, that "technology's primary effect is to amplify human forces." Marshall McLuhan said much the same thing half a century ago. Toyama makes some good and perceptive points along the way, observing that if the same technology, for instance, can be used for both entertainment and education, people will choose entertainment every time and that technology often leads us to invent needs that we didn't know we had ("Few people imagined before 1979 that they would want to live in their very own cocoons of music"). He is also correct to note that the proper goal of economic development is to develop not consumers but producers, even if many First World technologies seek only the former ("modern global civilization seems stuck in a form of self-actualization marked by consumption and personal achievement")-and that meaningful education and social development are both expensive and require plenty of follow-up, something that one-laptop schemes underemphasize. A white paper largely of interest to education theorists and aid specialists, with occasional asides for the Jaron Lanier/Nicholas Carr crowd.

April 15, 2015

Toyama (W. K. Kellogg Associate Professor, Univ. of Michigan Sch. of Information; fellow, Dalai Lama Ctr. for Ethics and Transformative Values, MIT) takes a critical look at the use of information and communication technologies to foster global development. He posits that technology usually only amplifies existing conditions and disparities and can easily be trumped by a lack of basic infrastructure and human factors such as psychology and social or political systems. These latter factors critical to successful development he summarizes as good intention, discernment, and self-control, which collectively he terms intrinsic growth. Examples are presented from his experience in India and Ghana, as well as other developing nations to show how mind, spirit, and will are the essential determinants of social progress on micro and macro levels. His suggested remedy is mentorship programs (personal, institutional, and even national) that focus on identifying and fostering mentees' goals and connecting them with appropriate solutions. Ultimately, the author explains that developing societies aren't problems looking for prepackaged technological answers, but opportunities to nurture aspiration--a goal not relegated to so-called underdeveloped nations. VERDICT Recommended for anyone with an interest in effective global development initiatives (not necessarily technology-driven ones), from policymakers and not-for-profit and educational workers to donors and supporters.--Wade M. Lee, Univ. of Toledo Lib.

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