Unruled Notebook

If your child has diarrhea, what do you do: 1) increase her fluid intake 2) reduce it or 3) keep it the same?

That is the question for which (an unknown but possibly representative sample of) Indian population who chose option 2) is given in the picture below

From "Breaking Out of the Pocket" by Peter Boone and Simon Johnson, Brookings Global Economy and Development Conference

[...] Diarrhea is not a new problem. It’s an old problem that’s been there for generations. The idea that whether you should give more or less fluids is a problem that’s been there for thousands of years.

It’s interesting—and India is no exception, I can show you video from other countries—but it’s interesting, the mental model the world has settled on is a mental model that suggests that when your child has diarrhea give them less fluids—even though that mental model is exactly wrong and you’ve had strong feedback.[...]

For diarrhea, the correct answer is option 1). One should increase the fluid intake to prevent dehydration that could arise due to excessive loss of body fluids due to diarrhea. Also, increasing the fluid intake – most of which would anyway would come out – would increase the chance for flushing the infection out from the stomach.

Kerala, scores well because it is one of the most literate states? Need not be. It is also one of the lesser populated states. And the correct answer may just be told as a thing to remember (through education) rather than gleaned from observation and intuition – which could become wrong, as shown in the answers from some of the most populated states.