Joshua Hagen

Sendhil Mullainathan

Solving social problems with a nudge

http://www.ted.com/talks/sendhil_mullainathan.html

In this talk Mullainathan talks about technology and the impact social problems have on technologies effectiveness. He talks about how many problems are solved by technology but the effectiveness is often times nulled and voided by human and social error. An example he used is how in India when children get diarrhea the mothers decide to give them less fluid when in reality they need more. Their logic is why would i want to fill a leaky bucket? Therefore their children have a higher chance of dying from it. Another example is diabetes and the percentage of people who don't consistently take their insulin. The effect is a increase in diabetes complications. He calls this the "Last mile problem" because all the problems are solved up to the last mile where people have to take the technology and use and understand it properly.

I really enjoyed the talk and found his insights and logic quite profound. It encouraged me to put more thought into my actions and think things though more diligently.