Book: Factfulness

Author

Hans Rosling

Summary

A plea to overcome the human instincts that prevent us from developing a fact based worldview.

Takeaways

Knowledge of global patterns and trends is poor across demographics even though data is publicly available. Common assumptions about topics like population growth, income inequality, education and health, are not only wrong but are systematically distorted. Developments appear more negatively than they are. Reasons are a lack of statistical literacy and our instincts to generalize, blame others, and consider things without appropriate comparison frames and proportions. To develop a fact based and more accurate worldview, we need to be aware of these instincts and work actively to overcome them.

Societal change is happening steadily but slowly and often not considered newsworthy. The lack of attention makes it hard to identify emerging patterns and adapt to a changing landscape. The Western view is systematically underestimating the progress in Asia and especially Africa, and the significant role these continents will play in a future global economy.

Quotes

“The data shows that half the increase in child survival in the world happens because mothers can read and write. More children now survive because they don’t get ill in the first place. … So if you are investing money to improve health on Level 1 and 2, you should put it into primary schools, nurse education, and vaccinations. Big impressive-looking hospitals can wait."

“People in North America and Europe need to understand that most of the world population lives in Asia. In terms of economic muscles ‘we’ are becoming the 20 percent, not the 80 percent. But many of ‘us’ can’t fit these numbers into our nostalgic minds. Not only do we misjudge how big our war monuments should be in Vietnam, we also misjudge our importance in the future global marketplace. Many of us forget to behave properly with those who will control the future trade deals."

“Anyone who claims that democracy is a necessity for economic growth and health improvements will risk getting contradicted by reality. It’s better to argue for democracy as a goal in itself instead of as a superior means to other goals we like."

“In fact, resist blaming any one individual or group of individuals for anything. Because the problem is that when we identify the bad guy, we are done thinking. And it’s almost always more complicated than that."