This is an interesting article from cnn.com. It centers around the use of solar power to bring light and technology to remote villages in India. I'm conflicted. On the one hand it presents excellent opportunities for individuals by offering lighting after dark which has never been an option for them. That's awesome. On the other hand it presents opportunities for the United States to infiltrate another region and try to westernize it. That's not awesome. The article speaks to the use of solar power to run the villages only tv and dvd player. Great. Let's dub our finest films from Hollywood and ship them over to them. Great. I wonder what Adam Sandler films might sound like in their language?!?!
I read a book not too long ago that talked about the amount of stress that we have in the American culture which translates into sleep disorders, addictions, etc. Studies and statistics actually linked this back to the advent of artificial light. Apparently artificial light throws off the body's ability to differentiate between day and night. There is a chemical in the brain which is released at sundown which causes the body to downshift for sleep. There is another chemical the brain releases at dawn (or when light is introduced following sleep) which causes the body to upshift for the day. The studies showed that artificaial light actually prevents the brain from releasing that chemical. That's why we can't sleep , there are sleep disorder clinics, and multiple prescriptions to aid in sleep. And additionally why there are "uppers" and market for caffeine to get us going in the morning. Nice cycle. Apparently the only sorts of cultures that don't deal with this are those without artificial light (bedouin tribes and those in India according to this article).
So, thanks to solar technology, these villages can look forward to the microsoft monopoly and pc world, working third shift, 7-11 and slurpees, Starbucks kiosks and Monster energy drinks, and the need for over the counter sleep aids. You're welcome, India!
Is that a stretch, maybe. Maybe not.
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3 comments:
Crazy!
I was actually quite saddened by India's westernization when i was there. I loved the small villages we traveled through and to, but then we came to the city and there were the large corporate buildings with cows milling around in front of them (because, well, you can't change THOSE values).
And begging outside of those large, expensive buildings were hundreds and thousands of people left homeless by the recent torrents of rain. The emergence of large corporate America did not better the whole of society, it made the rich richer and the poor poorer. It helped create further division between classes and castes.
I agree... we see so many countries "without so and so" but are they really without? Running water, access to medicine, food, safe housing- yes they are without some pretty important things. But Nintendo Wiis? Home Shopping Network? Yeah, not missing much there- in fact, they get the better end of the deal.
Trevor I think you and the CNN writer kind of missed the point here. Both of you put the emphasis on light and how productivity can be increased and whether that is really good for these people but the real life changing implication of this is summarized by two sentences in the article:
On a recent visit to the main college campus, a group of village women were hard at work making solar cookers, which can boil a liter of water in eight minutes.
The station, powered by solar panels, provides the area with a rare commodity: clean drinking water.
A reliable source of clean water will mean the difference between life and death for these people. It wasn't all that long ago that in this country you never knew if your next drink of water, a nutrient essential for life, was going to be your last. Clean water, sanitation, and the ability to keep food fresh will vastly improve the quality of life for these people. The man who brought the solar energy to his village has even been paralyzed by polio, something we don't have to worry about here anymore, and he probably got by drinking contaminated water!
A second issue that I noticed when reading this is that by bringing in solar power to these villages they have totally bypassed fossil fuels. We all know, thanks to some politicians and the media, that fossil fuels are eventually going to run out and we are damaging our environment by relying to heavily on them. Probably the threat is not as imminent as they tell us on tv but it is there and by starting out with clean, renewable energy in these remote villages these people may not become as dependent on fuels as we are.
As for light and sleep: yes it is true that light is one regulator of our circadian rhythm (biological clock) but its not the only one. I'm no expert on sleep/awake physiology but I know a little bit. And not to say the book is wrong but I'd be skeptical about the validity of scientific conclusions made by a pastor and published by Zondervan. If you really want to know there are more reliable places to look.
In response to michele:
we have Wii's and water/food/medicine
they have nothing
Who's better off?
Yes. True. Clean water is vital and is indeed a positive by-product of this technology. I did miss that part of the article, and had not thought about the positives regarding non-use of fossil fuels. Thanks for your comments!
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