![Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by [Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51V7HTmcyvL._SY346_.jpg)
“If you are more interested in being right than continuing to live in your bubble; if you are willing to change your worldview; if you are ready for critical thinking to replace instinctive reaction; and if you are feeling humble, curious and ready to be amazed – then please read on.”
I am a student of mathematics, and while the main focus of my study is Pure Maths, I love statistics too, and believe it is the most important area of mathematics taught in secondary school, and that an understanding of statistics is vital for understanding the modern world we live in.
“The world cannot be understood without numbers. But the world cannot be understood with numbers alone.”
Hans Rosling first came to my notice when I saw him speaking about statistics on TV. I taped the program and showed it to my pupils when I was a maths teacher – they (like me) were transfixed by his bubble graphs: ‘Why can’t we do stats like this?!’. Learning about statistics at school is often boring – this is riveting and so relevant. Especially today, when the news is saturated with statistics and graphs about the COVID pandemic and vaccines, and where it is become increasingly difficult to discriminate between facts and fake news.
Rosling’s background is in medicine, and he came to statistics as a way of improving his medical practice, and understanding the lives and needs of his patients. He worked extensively in Africa, as well as in his home country of Sweden, and many of his examples come from these two very different places.
The book is divided into 10 main chapters: Gap (look for the majority); Negativity (expect bad news); Straight line (lines might bend); Fear (calculate the risks); Size (get things in proportion); Generalisation (question your categories); Destiny (slow change is still change); Single (get a toolbox); Blame (resist pointing your finger); and Urgency (take small steps)
His main thesis is that – despite what many of us believe – things are getting better all over the world. Yes, they may still be bad, and there may need to be much more change, but things are improving. Only dramatic news hits the headlines, but there are so many small, incremental positive changes happening every day.
“don’t confuse slow change with no change. Don’t dismiss an annual change—even an annual change of only 1 percent—because it seems too small and slow.”
Only by looking at the facts and statistics can we understand the true situation, and plan for further improvement.
“Being curious means being open to new information and actively seeking it out. It means embracing facts that don’t fit your worldview and trying to understand their implications. It means letting your mistakes trigger curiosity instead of embarrassment.”
The book begins with a multichoice test – how much do you know about the world (poverty, life expectancy, population, education, health) – and can you score better than a chimpanzee picking answers at random. Often, the chimps do better, because our choices are skewed by outdated knowledge, unconscious prejudices and an emphasis on dramatic, often negative, news. Throughout the book the reasons behind the correct answers are explained, and also reasons behind some incorrect choices.
“Beware comparisons of averages. If you could check the spreads you would probably find they overlap. There is probably no gap at all. • Beware comparisons of extremes. In all groups, of countries or people, there are some at the top and some at the bottom. The difference is sometimes extremely unfair. But even then the majority is usually somewhere in between, right where the gap is supposed to be.”
But numbers alone cannot tell you everything. You need to be aware of how the numbers were obtained, what categories were used, and who compiled the statistics and why.
“Never, ever leave a number all by itself. Never believe that one number on its own can be meaningful. If you are offered one number, always ask for at least one more. Something to compare it with.”
“If someone offers you a single example and wants to draw conclusions about a group, ask for more examples. Or flip it over: i.e., ask whether an opposite example would make you draw the opposite conclusion.”
“when presented with new evidence, we must always be ready to question our previous assumptions and reevaluate and admit if we were wrong.”
For the future
“We should be teaching our children that there are countries on all different levels of health and income and that most are in the middle. • We should be teaching them about their own country’s socioeconomic position in relation to the rest of the world, and how that is changing. • We should be teaching them how their own country progressed through the income levels to get to where it is now, and how to use that knowledge to understand what life is like in other countries today.”
“We should be teaching them that people are moving up the income levels and most things are improving for them. • We should be teaching them what life was really like in the past so that they do not mistakenly think that no progress has been made. • We should be teaching them how to hold the two ideas at the same time: that bad things are going on in the world, but that many things are getting better. • We should be teaching them that cultural and religious stereotypes are useless for understanding the world. • We should be teaching them how to consume the news and spot the drama without becoming stressed or hopeless. • We should be teaching them the common ways that people will try to trick them with numbers. • We should be teaching them that the world will keep changing and they will have to update their knowledge and worldview throughout their lives.”
There is so much in this book for everyone to learn, so many good quotes and examples that I did not have space to include. This book should be required reading for everyone. It will challenge you, inform you and fascinate you – but it will not leave you unchanged.
I listened to the audio book, which came with a pdf containing the quiz, graphs, pictures and short chapter summaries. I also bought the e-book. Whatever format you prefer, I urge you to read this very important book. Highly recommended to everyone.
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I bought 3 books all for presents. The are all damaged on the spine top and bottom 😖
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