The Spoon and the Cellphone

I would like to dedicate this post to my N'toroma Kelly Barb, aka Kadiatou Camara.

As a volunteer, I have a lot of free time on my hands. Time to read, to think, to nap, and even time to write ridiculous blog posts dedicated to questions people have asked me. One day, a fellow volunteer posed the doozy: Why did Guineans so quickly adopt the cellphone yet still consider spoons to be taboo? It was a good question. Guinea hasn't adopted many modern technologies, but in less than 10 years, cell phones have become ubiquitous. Yet spoons, which have been around hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, are something that have not been universally adopted! The question was there and while I had some theories, I quickly forgot about it. Several weeks later, I came across a similar question in Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. The book studies the question “why was it that Europeans who conquered the world and not any other group of people?” Nestled inside its 400+ pages was a discussion about why or why not a society might accept new technology.

When something new is invented, no matter what and no matter where, society has to be persuaded to use it. Will the invention drastically change their lives? Will it save them time? Will it make them money? Obviously some societies are more open to change than others, but no matter the society, Diamond gives 4 criteria for the successful integration of new technology

1. relative economic advantage compared with existing technology
2. social value and prestige
3. compatibility with vested interests
4. ease with which their advantage can be observed

Now I realize this is getting a little deep, but stick with me.

I'll start with cellphones. This clever little gadget suddenly connected a country that never had widespread phone lines, or even paved roads. Suddenly, people were connected with those who were a 24 hour drive away! It allowed someone to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. It made life easier and (this is key) was immediately recognized and therefore became more likely to be adopted by society. The cellphone hits 4/4 of Diamond's prerequisites (#2 – The wealthier you are, the cooler your phone is) and most people would agree adopting the cellphone was the obvious answer. So why not the spoon?

What are the benefits of a spoon? It keeps your hands clean, and it helps prevent the spread of germs. Here we find our first problem. You can't see germs, and even to this day people will laugh at you if you tell them germs make you sick. Secondly, spoons don't offer an economic advantage over your hands, which are already free and available 24/7. Introducing the spoon introduced another cost to those who probably couldn't afford it. 1 or 2 spoons wasn't enough. What about the myriad of children, relatives and friends? Finally, spoons mean more dishes to wash and who needs that? Water is scarce enough as it is, even with modern pumps and wells. In my opinion, those who first tried spoons couldn't tell that it made any positive, immediate, or noticeable impacts, or if it did, it wasn't worth the price. Therefore, I argue that Guineans weren't receptive to spoons because it was an unwelcome technology whose advantage to this day has yet to be realized. In contrast, cellphones solved a huge problem and were adopted with relative ease.

So that is my answer. Whether or not you find it acceptable or insane is for you to decide. Hopefully, I didn't make it worse! And don't worry. Even though I can understand their side, I am 100% PRO SPOON.