Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
January 25, 2023
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think is a 2018 book by Swedish physician, professor of international health at Karolinska Institute[1] and statistician Hans Rosling with his son Ola Rosling and daughter-in-law Anna Rosling Rönnlund. The book was published posthumously a year after Hans Rosling died from pancreatic cancer.[2] In the book, Rosling suggests that the vast majority of people are wrong about the state of the world. He demonstrates that his test subjects believe the world is poorer, less healthy, and more dangerous than it actually is, attributing this not to random chance but to misinformation.[3][4]
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Rosling recommends thinking about the world as divided into four levels based on income brackets (rather than the prototypical developed/developing framework) and suggests ten instincts that prevent us from seeing real progress in the world.[5][6]
Bill Gates highlighted the book as one of his suggested five books worth reading for summer 2018, offering to purchase a copy for any 2018 college graduate upon request.[7]
Rosling criticizes the notion of dividing the world into the "developed world" and the "developing world" by calling it an outdated view. He shows that today most countries are "developed" and the others are not how developing countries were when the term became popular. Instead, he offers a four category model based on income per person (adjusted for price differences):
Level 1: less than $2 a day
Level 2: $2–$8 a day
Level 3: $8–$32 a day
Level 4: $32+ a day
He says that the majority of the countries in the world are on Level 2 or Level 3. A select few countries are on Level 1 and Level 4.
World getting better
The book also stresses that many people think the world is getting worse when, in fact, it is not. The survey at the beginning states that with over 10,000 poll recipients 80% knew less about the world than "chimps" would have, i.e. they do worse than random guessing. That, the authors claim, shows that the media systematically skew data and trends and select stories to make people think that the world is getting worse.
Rules of thumb
Ten rules of thumb helping to avoid overdramatic interpretations[8]
Number
Dramatic instinct
Example
Rule of thumb
Example
1
Gap instinct
'Look at the gap!'
Locate the majority
'Is there really a gap?'
2
Negativity instinct
'It's getting worse!'
Expect negative news
'Would improvement get attention?'.
3
Straight line instinct
'It just continues!'
Imagine bending lines
'Why would this line not bend?'
4
Fear instinct
'It's scary!'
Calculate the risk
'Is it really dangerous?'
5
Size instinct
'It's big!'
Check the proportions
'Is it big in comparison?'
6
Generalization instinct
'They're all the same!'
Check your categories
'How are they different?'
7
Destiny instinct
'It never changes!'
Notice slow changes
'Isn't it always changing slowly?'
8
Single-perspective instinct
'This is the solution!'
Use multiple tools
'What other solutions exist?'
9
Blame instinct
'That's the bad guy!'
Resist pointing fingers
'What system made this possible?'
10
Urgency instinct
'It is now or never!'
Take small steps
'Can we take decisions as we go?'
Reception
Christian Berggren, a Swedish professor of industrial management, has questioned the authors' claims and suggested that Rosling's own thinking shows a bias towards Pollyannaism. Particularly, Berggren criticized the authors for understating the importance of the European migrant crisis, the environmental impacts of the Anthropocene, and continued global population growth. Furthermore, Berggren remarks that "Factfulness includes many graphs of 'bad things in decline' and 'good things on the rise' but not a single graph of problematic phenomena that are on the rise." It "employs a biased selection of variables, avoids analysis of negative trends, and does not discuss any of the serious challenges related to continual population growth." Berggren raises concerns that the simplistic worldview this book offers could have serious consequences.[9]
Bill Gates has cited Factfulness as "one of the best books [he's] ever read."[7] In an interview with Time, Gates states that Factfulness "offers clear, actionable advice for how to overcome our innate biases and see the world more factfully." In particular, Gates found the four income levels framework a "revelation". Of the ten rules of thumb given in the book, Gates worries most about the blame instinct, not for creating scapegoats, but for turning people into heroes.[10]
In June 2018, Bill Gates offered free copies, to all new graduates of U.S. colleges and universities.[11][12]
^. Karolinska Institutet. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Professor of Public Health Science at the Department of Public Health Sciences since 1997
^Milken, Michael. "Forbes All-Star Book Club: Michael Milken Reviews 'Factfulness'". Forbes.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^Hardyment, Christina (2018). "Review: Factfulness by Hans Rosling, read by Simon Slater". The Times.
^Millen, Robbie (2018). "Review: Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World — and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling". The Times.
^Mahadevan-Dasgupta, Uma (2018). "Factfulness review: The miracle of human progress". The Hindu.
^Brueck, Hilary (April 4, 2018). "The author of one of Bill Gates' favorite books says the world isn't as apocalyptic as you might think - here are five of his top reasons why". Business Insider. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
^ abGates, Bill (May 21, 2018). "5 books worth reading this summer". Retrieved October 4, 2018.
^Berggren, Christian. (2018). Good Things on the Rise: The One-Sided Worldview of Hans Rosling. Translation of an essay published in Kvartal [sv], September 20, 2018
^Begley, Sarah. "Bill Gates Says This Book Is 'One of the Most Important' He's Ever Read". Time.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^Brueck, Hilary. "Bill Gates Is Giving Away Free Copies of One of the Most Important Books He's Read to All College Graduates -- Here's How to Get Yours". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^"Here's my gift to college graduates". Bill Gates. gates notes. Archived from the original on 6 June 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
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Factfulness Ten Reasons We re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think is a 2018 book by Swedish physician professor of international health at Karolinska Institute 1 and statistician Hans Rosling with his son Ola Rosling and daughter in law Anna Rosling Ronnlund The book was published posthumously a year after Hans Rosling died from pancreatic cancer 2 In the book Rosling suggests that the vast majority of people are wrong about the state of the world He demonstrates that his test subjects believe the world is poorer less healthy and more dangerous than it actually is attributing this not to random chance but to misinformation 3 4 Factfulness Ten Reasons We re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You ThinkAuthorHans Rosling Anna Rosling Ronnlund Ola RoslingGenreNon fictionPublisherFlatiron Books US Sceptre UK Publication dateApril 3 2018Media typePrint Hardcover Pages341ISBN978 1 250 10781 7WebsiteGapminder Factfulness the book Rosling recommends thinking about the world as divided into four levels based on income brackets rather than the prototypical developed developing framework and suggests ten instincts that prevent us from seeing real progress in the world 5 6 Bill Gates highlighted the book as one of his suggested five books worth reading for summer 2018 offering to purchase a copy for any 2018 college graduate upon request 7 Contents 1 Summary 1 1 Four income levels 1 2 World getting better 1 3 Rules of thumb 2 Reception 3 See also 4 ReferencesSummary Edit Left to right Anna Rosling Ronnlund Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling discuss their book Factfulness in 2016 Four income levels Edit Rosling criticizes the notion of dividing the world into the developed world and the developing world by calling it an outdated view He shows that today most countries are developed and the others are not how developing countries were when the term became popular Instead he offers a four category model based on income per person adjusted for price differences Level 1 less than 2 a day Level 2 2 8 a day Level 3 8 32 a day Level 4 32 a dayHe says that the majority of the countries in the world are on Level 2 or Level 3 A select few countries are on Level 1 and Level 4 World getting better Edit The book also stresses that many people think the world is getting worse when in fact it is not The survey at the beginning states that with over 10 000 poll recipients 80 knew less about the world than chimps would have i e they do worse than random guessing That the authors claim shows that the media systematically skew data and trends and select stories to make people think that the world is getting worse Rules of thumb Edit Ten rules of thumb helping to avoid overdramatic interpretations 8 Number Dramatic instinct Example Rule of thumb Example1 Gap instinct Look at the gap Locate the majority Is there really a gap 2 Negativity instinct It s getting worse Expect negative news Would improvement get attention 3 Straight line instinct It just continues Imagine bending lines Why would this line not bend 4 Fear instinct It s scary Calculate the risk Is it really dangerous 5 Size instinct It s big Check the proportions Is it big in comparison 6 Generalization instinct They re all the same Check your categories How are they different 7 Destiny instinct It never changes Notice slow changes Isn t it always changing slowly 8 Single perspective instinct This is the solution Use multiple tools What other solutions exist 9 Blame instinct That s the bad guy Resist pointing fingers What system made this possible 10 Urgency instinct It is now or never Take small steps Can we take decisions as we go Reception EditChristian Berggren a Swedish professor of industrial management has questioned the authors claims and suggested that Rosling s own thinking shows a bias towards Pollyannaism Particularly Berggren criticized the authors for understating the importance of the European migrant crisis the environmental impacts of the Anthropocene and continued global population growth Furthermore Berggren remarks that Factfulness includes many graphs of bad things in decline and good things on the rise but not a single graph of problematic phenomena that are on the rise It employs a biased selection of variables avoids analysis of negative trends and does not discuss any of the serious challenges related to continual population growth Berggren raises concerns that the simplistic worldview this book offers could have serious consequences 9 Bill Gates has cited Factfulness as one of the best books he s ever read 7 In an interview with Time Gates states that Factfulness offers clear actionable advice for how to overcome our innate biases and see the world more factfully In particular Gates found the four income levels framework a revelation Of the ten rules of thumb given in the book Gates worries most about the blame instinct not for creating scapegoats but for turning people into heroes 10 In June 2018 Bill Gates offered free copies to all new graduates of U S colleges and universities 11 12 See also EditGapminder FoundationReferences Edit Hans Rosling Karolinska Institutet Archived from the original on 12 August 2011 Professor of Public Health Science at the Department of Public Health Sciences since 1997 Milken Michael Forbes All Star Book Club Michael Milken Reviews Factfulness Forbes a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Hardyment Christina 2018 Review Factfulness by Hans Rosling read by Simon Slater The Times Millen Robbie 2018 Review Factfulness Ten Reasons We re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling The Times Mahadevan Dasgupta Uma 2018 Factfulness review The miracle of human progress The Hindu Brueck Hilary April 4 2018 The author of one of Bill Gates favorite books says the world isn t as apocalyptic as you might think here are five of his top reasons why Business Insider Retrieved October 4 2018 a b Gates Bill May 21 2018 5 books worth reading this summer Retrieved October 4 2018 Factfulness Gapminder Foundation page visited on 15 November 2020 Berggren Christian 2018 Good Things on the Rise The One Sided Worldview of Hans Rosling Translation of an essay published in Kvartal sv September 20 2018 Begley Sarah Bill Gates Says This Book Is One of the Most Important He s Ever Read Time a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a CS1 maint url status link Brueck Hilary Bill Gates Is Giving Away Free Copies of One of the Most Important Books He s Read to All College Graduates Here s How to Get Yours Entrepreneur Retrieved 21 July 2022 Here s my gift to college graduates Bill Gates gates notes Archived from the original on 6 June 2018 Retrieved 21 July 2022 Portals Books Mathematics Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Factfulness Ten Reasons We 27re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think amp oldid 1127410971, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
