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If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all these past few months, the world seems like it’s spiraling out of control. The media has been plagued by news of corrupt politics, climate change, and overall just unfortunate events. Well for those of you who are feeling pessimistic about this perhaps Hans Rosling's book “Factfulness” will cheer you up. The objective of this book is to completely change the way you perceive and think about the world by explaining many misconceptions people have about it. (The world really isn’t that bad despite what it may seem right now). Rosling, a famous professor of international health, uses statistics, graphs, and global trends to show that much of the world is improving in terms of literacy, life expectancy, access to resources, etc. He talks about everything from poverty levels to population increase to animal extinction and so much more. He proves that so many of us, even supposed “experts” know very little about the current state of the world and how it’s changing. For instance, he explains how there are actually very few “third-world countries” left and that almost every country has improved immensely over the past few decades. This has been one of the most influential books I have ever read and I think it’s one that everyone should read because it completely changed my mindset and the way I view the world. Rosling emphasizes ten, what he calls, “instincts” that people should use to help them think differently about the current world we live in because much of what we believe now is not the truth. This book is so fascinating in terms of both altering perceptions about our world and the author’s personal anecdotes throughout. In this current state of affairs, I think we could all use some optimism in our lives and this is the perfect book for that pick-me-up we need.
Source:
Rosling, Hans, et al. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong about the World - and Why Things Are Better than You Think. Flatiron Books, 2020.
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