Daniel Crosby [Daniel Crosby] - The Laws of Wealth: Psychology and the secret to investing success

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Psychology seems to lie behind all the ways that potentially improve stock market returns.

Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth, The Little Book of Alternative Investments

The American South is a proud and sometimes troubled region that is distinctive by virtue of its unique foodways, unmistakable accent and reputation for both interpersonal and climatic warmth. I am a son of this strange and wonderful place, a native Alabaman who now lives in the de facto Capital of the South, Atlanta.

Atlanta is many things: home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners (Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jimmy Carter), the only American city to burn to the ground twice and the host of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. But perhaps most impressive of all, Atlanta is the worlds epicenter of epidemiological research, thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Carter Center.

The CDC boasts over 14,000 employees in 50 countries and is the tip of the spear for fighting infectious diseases domestically and internationally. The Carter Center, the philanthropic legacy of American president Jimmy Carter, has as its motto the ambitious goal of Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

Although both organizations are constantly diligent, their work tends to enter public consciousness only around high profile health events like the HIV/AIDS epidemic, SARS, avian flu and, most recently, the Ebola virus. As a result of headline-grabbing illnesses with dramatic names (Im looking at you, Mad Cow Disease) taking a disproportionate share of the limelight, some of these organizations most impactful programs go largely unheralded. One such campaign is the Guinea worm eradication effort headed up by Dr Donald Hopkins.

To understand the full import of the work done by Dr Hopkins and his team at the Carter Center, we must first undertake the (somewhat unpleasant) task of understanding the ill effects wrought by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis , or Guinea worm as it more commonly known. The Guinea worm is the largest tissue parasite impacting humans and can grow to over three feet in length. Guinea worms are reproductively adept as well, with the adult female carrying an incredible three million embryos! The World Health Organization notes that, the parasite migrates through the victims subcutaneous tissues causing severe pain especially when it occurs in the joints. The worm eventually emerges (from the feet in most cases), causing an intensely painful oedema, a blister and an ulcer accompanied by fever, nausea and vomiting. Ouch.

To complicate matters, the very means by which this horrific pain can be abated actually furthers the transmission of the parasite. Seeking respite from the pain, sufferers run to their local water source and submerge their worm-ridden limbs in a desperate attempt at relief. The immediate result to the victim is positive she receives some cooling of the impacted area and short-term symptomatic relief. But the succor of one individual comes at the expense of many, as the Guinea worm now finds itself in water, its preferred site for reproduction. As you have probably now guessed, the parasites multiply in the water, which is then passed onto thirsty villagers who eventually become infected and return to the water source for relief, perpetuating the cycle.

But the negative societal sequelae of the parasite are far greater than just the physical pain it causes (easy for me to say). The book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything , describes the fallout thusly:

Sufferers cannot work their crops for many weeks. When parents are afflicted, their children may drop out of school to help out with chores. Crops cannot be cultivated. The harvest is lost. Starvation ensues. The cycle of illiteracy and poverty consumes the next generation. Often, secondary infections caused by the worm can kill. Consequently, for over 3,500 years the Guinea worm has been a major barrier to economic and social progress in dozens of nations.

It should be abundantly clear by now that when Dr Hopkins and his team declared war on the Guinea worm in 1986, they went into battle against a formidable foe. But their battle plan was not what most expected. Rather than focus their efforts on a medicinal cure for the ailment, they sought to change the human behavior that propagates its spread. In so doing they have done what many thought impossible they have nearly eradicated a disease for which there is no cure.

The way they achieved this improbable success was by doing something highly intuitive: they examined the uninfected villages, noted a small number of vital behaviors, and publicized their findings broadly. In specific (and in case you ever find yourself in a developing country), the vital behaviors were as follows:

1. Villagers in healthy villages showed a willingness to speak up when a friend, family member or neighbor became infected.
2. The infected people were kept far away from the communal water source at the height of their pain (i.e., as the worms were emerging from the skin).

By codifying these two crucial actions and informing others of their power, Dr Hopkins and his team impacted the physical, mental and economic wellbeing of millions. The tremendous scope of their work belies the simplicity of the solution; nothing they had done to rid the world of this scourge was especially groundbreaking. Dr Hopkins just understood the power of a few important behaviors, broadly and consistently applied.