Alfredo Moser: Bottle light inventor (2013) | Hacker News Reader

Alfredo Moser: Bottle light inventor (2013)

bbc.co.uk

58 pointsUglyToad14 comments

Discussed at the time:

Bottle light inventor proud to be poor - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6203142 - Aug 2013 (80 comments)

Very cool. I was surprised to see the 40W-60W equivalent value; that's much better than I would have guessed, but makes sense based on the Philippine's equatorial location. Kind of like a modern-day deck prism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_prism

So cool to see this come around again. I borrowed this idea for my Peace Corps project back in ~2011: https://gamlight.org/ Not the originator of the idea by any means—I found this by way of Liter of Light—but I've spent a fair amount of time on rooftops punching these things in, AMA.

Proud to be poor is an interesting emotion. The Bible writes that it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven than a camel through the thread of a needle. I wonder what the psychological reasoning is based on. Is it an evolutionary adaption? Like a male peacock with its anti-fit unhandy tail. A way to communicate fitness?

"See how I thrive despite my poverty!"

I wonder...

I think there are simpler explanations:

1) historically, wealth has often been obtained by violence, corruption and other less than ethical means;

2) even if it was obtained legitimately, most societies expect the wealthy to donate a significant portion of their wealth, slowly making them less wealthy;

3) (and this is probably the strongest one) the appearance of wealth or poverty is what matters, it's very frowned upon to flaunt your wealth while humble living is seen as righteous.

4) (this one is controversial) it's a coping mechanism, especially in cases of severe generational poverty where people have given up trying to climb the economic place (and quite possibly for good reason).

This is particularly true in Christian societies due to that passage you quoted (and others like it in the new testament) but it does appear in all societies.

I'd say the evolutionary argument is relatively weak to all of the above.

Bold of you to assume the Bible is written to benefit its target audience. The message is "don't seek riches, don't question, stay down, stay humble, be placid and obedient, all truth comes through me." Who gains from this philosophy?

As for 'proud to be poor' it's an interesting expression indeed, I read it more as 'proud of what I've achieved with the limited resources available' rather than 'proud to only have limited resources available.'

The Bible is a collection of dozens of books written by many people across about a millennium. Anyone who's read it will know that it contains many different views and philosophies, especially when comparing the first books of the old testament to most of the new testament.

It's therefore very amusing to imply that it has some hidden goal to oppress the poor, especially after reading that passage that OP shared.

> I read it more as 'proud of what I've achieved with the limited resources available' rather than 'proud to only have limited resources available.'

You're projecting your own philosophy into that saying (which we all do to some extent). For a lot of people who I've seen share this sentiment of being proud to be poor, they wouldn't say they've really achieved much (even if they have), partially just because they're humble but mainly because for most people outside of our tech bubble, life isn't about achievements, it's about the relationships in their life. And when you're poor, you tend to have relationships with other poor people, and you're proud of that, proud of the "poor" family and friends you have.

This "proud to be poor" mentality is often a rejection of this philosophy that is so common now a days that attaches our self-worth to our achievements, I think your interpretation completely misses that.

"I'm proud of where I came from" (implying one was poor but no longer is due to one's achievements) fits your interpretation much better and is also seen commonly, but not by poor people.

I am surprised that there aren't problems with leaks. Also 2-litre plastic bottles are not UV resistant so after a summer in the sun I'd think they would be falling apart.

I think the general idea is that you can reuse any sort of plastic refuse (PVC pipe is also common and it's UV stable), add water to improve the optics, and tada, even, diffuse light without an actual hole in the roof.

Litro de Luz/Liter of Light is the current org carrying this idea forward AFAICT.

The question of leaks is directly addressed, although roof material isn't mentioned:

"You fix the bottle in with polyester resin. Even when it rains, the roof never leaks - not one drop."

Questions of durability are absent, but with the number being deployed, answers should be available shortly:

"In the Philippines, where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, and electricity is unusually expensive, the idea has really taken off, with Moser lamps now fitted in 140,000 homes."

Looks like the bottle is pushed up from the bottom (so the water won't pool around the joint) and then caulked with some kind of sealant. Since these are basically shanties with corrugated steel roofs I would think that leaks would be the least of your concerns. And since plastic bottles come from the waste stream anyway I doubt that replacement after a few years would be an issue. Depends on what happens after a few years of UV exposure... if the main problem is just the plastic becoming hazy, well, that just gives you a free light diffuser!

It seems the cap is the most UV-sensitive part, and that is solved by adding something to protect it: "The lamps work best with a black cap - a film case can also be used".

It's a cool 50% solution - now someone figure out how to bottle the light for the night, to solve the other 50%...

There are already solutions for mounting a small led lamp with a battery and solar cell in place of the bottle cap to provide light into at least the early evening hours.

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