FACTFULNESS Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world and why things are better than you think
by Hans Rosling
Over many years, Rosling, a global-health expert and statistician asked audiences around the world a series of multiple-choice questions like:
What percentage of 1 year-old children get vaccinated against some disease?
How has the number of deaths from natural disasters changed over the last 100 years?
What proportion of the world population lives in extreme poverty?
Most people, including eminent policy-makers (and me), score worse than if they had answered A, B or C at random. Or, as he puts it, worse than a chimp choosing between 3 bananas.
The book is essentially a defence of the importance of facts. He explains the various instincts that can hinder our understanding and urges us to seek out accurate information before forming our opinions.
He also makes a compelling case that the distribution of wealth between nations is far more complex than the west’s simplistic rich/poor distinction and that there are many reasons to be optimistic. Progress over the last 50 years has been incredible and points us towards how we can improve the lives of the 1 billion who still live in extreme poverty.
My only carp is that he doesn’t really address the climate emergency.
He was also a great speaker. Try this TED talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen