Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology

by Kentaro Toyama

What isn’t a packaged intervention? The caring attention of a good teacher. Citizen participation in a protest march. The capable execution of a vaccination program by a well-managed health-care system. A political leader’s decision to do what’s right in spite of pressure from special interests. Human virtues can’t be packaged. But if packaged interventions don’t include the critical human components of social change, then isn’t it tautological to say that packaged interventions aren’t enough? It does seem pretty obvious. But if it’s obvious, experts of every stripe nevertheless treat packaged interventions as if they were complete solutions. Critical decisions in public policy are made on the basis of this or that packaged intervention. Academics write papers arguing one packaged intervention’s superiority over another. Foundations allocate budget items for specific packaged interventions. Journalists glorify new packaged interventions. And activists push packaged interventions like drug dealers pushing narcotics. Why do people do this? Many of the reasons are less than noble: Some seek profit. Others, fame. And still others just want to win a proxy war of egos: My program improves a gazillion lives; how about yours?