> The problem of iron deficiency can be solved with iron cooking pots, or pieces of iron not shaped by fish.
can be is a whole different thing from is being. Or, to use the old, tired cliche, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"
There are several steps to solving iron deficiency. Yes, an iron cooking pot or a plain iron pellet solves one of those steps. But the human step is every bit as important.
It's clearly not just a matter of aesthetics either - it's "a piece of iron shaped like a local river fish believed to be lucky". Sure, saying "they're dumb and should just learn to use a round pellet" makes sense from our educated western perspective. But that's completely ignorant of their deeply-ingrained cultural attitudes. When you're in a society that believes a certain kind of fish to be lucky, you can't just say "use science, idiot" and expect them to actually do what you say. As a more extreme example, remember that in Liberia, armed men broke into an Ebola clinic to free patients [0]. In cases like these, the human side of the problem is far more important than the scientific side.
What's your point? That you think the villagers are stupid? They are obviously not any more stupid than the countless other humans who risk their health for esthetic reasons, like not wearing a bicycle helmet.
Either way I think there are both more interesting and more pleasant things to say about this story than a condescending and snarky remark about the villagers. Spread some love, will ya?
