Why is this considered a tradition? Does anyone know why this is actually significant/symbolic for mothers in Niger? 

Will it make a difference? These mothers seem very insistent on sticking to tradition; since they refuse to make any sound while giving birth to a child. I feel like some mothers would change their attitudes on breast-feeding, but others will want to commit to traditions. 

There is probably a point of cognitive dissonance as well. When you are under this much pressure to save the five people, though you know in your mind it's wrong you may end up pushing the heavy man out of anticipation (or vice versa). I feel like it's hard to really know how people will react because the scientists never factored in the idea of cognitive dissonance. 

That's really interesting! In highshcool, I only heard the first 5 minutes of this, but to hear about the stuff like how the brain uses different regions to say yes or no was interesting! The whole psychology aspect of this is really cool.