Attention Economy


Friday, November 18, 2022

The Power of Simple Inventions

Struck by the power of the simple invention
Dr Dilip Mahalanabis changed the world. So why did we not hear more about it?
https://www.ft.com/content/3b38f61f-f924-4527-bec4-898a54ce98b2
Tim Harford notes:
Mahalanabis demonstrated that ORT could work at scale and without the need for highly trained medical professionals. His ideas were then taken up by BRAC, a local relief organisation, which mastered the process of teaching ordinary Bangladeshis to mix and administer the oral rehydration solution to anyone who needed it. The simplicity of the treatment was deceptive. ORT is widely reckoned to have saved 50 million people over the past half century.