[Stoves] Surprises about what technology is appropriate

[rbtvl at aol.com]

Trying to introduce only appropriatetechnology is laudable.  However weshould be careful and realize it is not appropriate for us to be overly sure aboutwhat is appropriate for others. That has to be determined in collaboration withthem in real time.
 
What follows is a story thatis not about stoves so you might want to skip and delete this message now.
 
You probably know Mancalagames in which stones are moved around in holes on a board according some rules.  There are over one hundred Mancala gamesplayed around the world, and the most complex is Bao Kiswahili,  played in Zanzibar.  
 
I was working in Zanzibar onscience education and spent some weeks programming my PC so that you could playagainst it.   Now you can find BaoKiswahili programs on the internet.
 
I took my program to Zanzibarand invited the men from the street corner to come to our computer center andplay against the computer.   The board ofBao Kiswahili has an 8 by 4 array of holes. So the game is represented on the computer screen by a matrix  of 32 numbers specifying the number of stonesin each hole.    When it is your turn,the computer displays all your possible moves. You select the number of the move you want, and push “enter” and thearray of numbers instantaneously changes to its new values.   When the computer has selected its move itdisplays its choice and you press “enter” and again the numbers instantaneouslychange.
 
When you actually play the gamewith the board, you move the stones around, dropping them in the holes, pickingup stones, reaching across and capturing stones from your opponent's side of the board, and a movecan take even a minute or more, with sounds, clicks, and lots of hand motion.
 
When I invited the men toplay against my computer I set up a board in front of the computer so that theycould make their and the computer’s moves physically and thereby be actuallyplaying Bao.   I assumed they would wantand need that, both to visualize the game well and to feel comfortable with theirmoves.
 
I was totally wrong.   As soon as the men understood therepresentation of the game in terms of the 32 numbers on the computer screen,and realized they could get to the next configuration, the result of a move, byjust pushing “enter” and not have to bother moving the stones around, theypushed the board away.   The abstract array was the essence of the game.  The instantaneous change of the array was justfine with them and very convenient.  Theywere already picturing that resulting array when they started their move.  Of course they were!  That was why they chose that particular movein the first place.  The computer wasappropriate technology for them.
 
What they did not understand,and I tried to teach them, was how in the world they could beat me every time on the streetcorner, and yet a computer that belonged to me could win.  
 
bob lange
Maasai Stoves and Solar
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