<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal">Paul:<br><br>Thank you for your courageous opinion exposing the underbelly of stove science funding. It has much more to do with the cycle of preconceived notions generating failed recommendations than just whether or not anthropologists are consulted or marketers placed between designers and vendors. <br><br>First about anthropology. I remember the pop sloganeering "observe and report, but do not alter the society." prevalent at the time (40 years ago). What seems to have happened - especially with anthropologists in what is called "sub-altern studies" and some renegades from the academe - is, if not "alter the society", at least alter the narratives about the history and the future of societies. A whole new wave of re-interpretation of the colonial experience has been going on for the last 30-odd years.<br><br>About stoves, I do think that "the people should design the stove" is quaint romanticism of a generation gone by. We can keep the spirit of inquiry without the baggage of teenage fancies. Social anthropologists have probably recognized that the slogan shouldn't be "the people should design the stove" but simply that "the people should be listened to, because only when they feel heard they would accept your questions and dare to challenge your questions and teach you what to ask."<br><br>All of it in vernacular languages, not in standard forms printed in English or French. <br><br>It is the joule-counters - doing energy balances and not collective mass balances or balance sheets -- who have continued to relish their infantile fantasies of protecting forests, chastity, lives, and climate ad nauseum. <br><br>Why? Why is it that tens of millions of dollars are wasted on purported "health impacts", secret contracts of UN Foundation, and advocating billions of dollars of subsidies for LPG and electricity, even marketing ludicrous "voluntary carbon" credits and aDALYs, but pathetically little on basic engineering of usable biomass stoves for households and non-household users?<br><br>We need to follow the money to understand how propaganda influences research funding decisions. Why else would the WBT have survived as long as it has, or ISO TC 285 work reduced to what Ranyee Chiang now calls "Living with Diversity" (ETHOS 2017)? <br><br>Living. With. Diversity. Code for acknowledging that it is not possible to force groupthink over scientists with an open mind. <br><br>How about that? :-) <br><br>Chiang shows three stages of alleged harmonization - "Discussions have led to greater agreement", "Try to reach agreement, and live with areas that can’t be aligned", and "When we have different priorities, be clear about what each of us means."<br><br>These are code words, respectively, for "We can't get people to agree" to "Give up trying to force slavish compliance to the indefensible", and "Some renegades must have ulterior motives". <br><br>Nice progress at the TC after more than five years. <br><br>I think bureaucrats of the aid industry -- principal culprits are in the US and European governments, with the make-merry charity foundations in the wine-dine-and-shine parties -- need to be held accountable for fooling too many people far too long. <br><br>With nothing to show. <br><br>Nikhil<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p><br><div class="gmail_extra"><div><div class="gmail-m_-7497579919331998472gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="georgia, serif">------------------------------<wbr>------------------------------<wbr>------------<br>Nikhil Desai</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">(India <a href="tel:+91%2090999%2052080" value="+919099952080" target="_blank">+91) 909 995 2080</a><br><i>Skype: nikhildesai888</i><br></font><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, May 28, 2017 at 8:02 AM, Paul Anderson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu" target="_blank">psanders@ilstu.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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Stovers,<span class="gmail-m_-7497579919331998472gmail-"><br>
<br>
Relating to Ron's quest for questionnaires about stove research, he
wrote:
<blockquote type="cite"> I am NOT interested in standard stoves; I
want to know what was considered in the framework of TLUDs and
biochar -both by Probec and World Bank (and anyone else).</blockquote></span>
[Here is my OPINION, without much documentation.] When the people
(stove users) and the researchers do NOT have awareness of what are
TLUD stoves and their char-making capabilities, neither the people
nor the researchers will include in questionnaires the issues that
are most relevant to TLUDs / char making stoves.<br>
<br>
Back in my student days (1964), I considered becoming an
anthropologist. But I rejected that profession for me because the
instruction basically said "observe and report, but do not alter the
society." I wanted then and still do want to alter societies in
beneficial ways. I would not have been a good anthropologist. <br>
<br>
When NEW material is intentionally not presented because the
thinking is that "the people should design the stove", there is no
way that a regular cook is going to say "I would like a stove that
produces charcoal." Too foreign a concept. And if a questionnaire
asked "Would you like a stove that <b><u>makes </u></b>charcoal
while you are cooking?", there would certainly be puzzled looks,
maybe a few laughs, and the researcher would need to be prepared to
justify the absurdity of such a question. <br>
<br>
There are many die-hard knowledgeable Stovers (including those who
administer stove projects) who resist every aspect of TLUD stoves.
Why would they want questionnaires with questions that touch upon
TLUD issues? <br>
<br>
Even when research projects are being designed, for many years TLUD
micro-gasifier stoves were not included in the stoves for
consideration. And there are examples of projects that included
(and spent money on) poorly designed stoves that are marginally
TLUDs (Sampada is a leading example), and certainly did not include
the strongest TLUD-ND design (Champion, from India). Or they
think that ACE / Philips or Biolite represent forced air TLUD-FA
stoves.<br>
<br>
About the above paragraph, some readers of this message do not know
the differences between those named stoves, and yet they will make
decisions about what stoves to include in funded research. And the
results are weak because of poor decisions at the beginning.<br>
<br>
Ron, the questionnaires (if you find them) will not include many, if
any, questions that relate to TLUD issues. <br>
<br>
As I said, that is my OPINION.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<pre class="gmail-m_-7497579919331998472gmail-m_-8444641044177650400moz-signature" cols="72">Doc / Dr TLUD / Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Email: <a class="gmail-m_-7497579919331998472gmail-m_-8444641044177650400moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu" target="_blank">psanders@ilstu.edu</a>
Skype: paultlud Phone: <a href="tel:(309)%20452-7072" value="+13094527072" target="_blank">+1-309-452-7072</a>
Website: <a class="gmail-m_-7497579919331998472gmail-m_-8444641044177650400moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.drtlud.com" target="_blank">www.drtlud.com</a></pre>
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