Month: July 2020

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling

Last updated on June 11th, 2023

The world is better than the media wants us to believe, and Hans Rosling makes a great case for it.

I had high hopes for this book from reading reviews and listening to feedback from others who had read it. I thought it was good, but not as good as most people said.

Basically, Hans Rosling uses statistics to show us how our thoughts about the world are completely wrong. He asks questions about the world like “How many people have access to electricity around the world?” and it turns out that even highly educated people get these types of questions completely wrong– even worse than chance!

How could this be? This is one question that fuels Rosling’s book. It’s fascinating. I loved how he uses charts and visual aids of UN Data to uncover that yes, the world indeed is better off than it’s ever been in history. We just have social media and the Internet and 24/7 news, so we are shown all of the sensational (usually negative) things. That everyone had a great day is not going to make headlines or generate clicks in the competitive world of media.

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Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World

Rosling gives us 10 reasons (personal biases) about why we are wrong about the world. These are also the 10 chapters in the book. They are:

  • The Gap Instinct
  • The Negativity Instinct
  • The Straight Line Instinct
  • The Fear Instinct
  • The Size Instinct
  • The Generalization Instinct
  • The Destiny Instinct
  • The Single Perspective Instinct
  • The Blame Instinct
  • The Urgency Instinct

Since the theme of this site (used to be) book reviews in 500 words or less, I won’t break down every chapter here- I don’t want to spoil it if you want to read it yourself– but these 10 biases essentially skew our view of the world.

What is the “Destiny Instinct”?

One, the destiny instinct, says that things never change because they’ve always been that way across different countries and cultures. In other words, these countries and cultures have innate characteristics that explain the way they are. For example, many Americans think of Sweden as a socialist country- and it may have been in the past, but now they are right behind America in terms of freedom.

Change happens slowly, but it’s constant, and one way to combat the destiny instinct is to ask your grandpa or grandma about what life was like when they were young and compare it to society now.

In Summary

This was a well written and well-researched book. All of the 10 instincts are explained clearly and concisely and it is an easy read. I just didn’t find it as life-changing or mind-blowing as a lot of other people do.

How Many Stars

3.5 😐

See “In Summary” above. But trust that even though society wants you to think the world is a toilet, overall it is, in fact, getting better!

BOOK DETAILS ONE MORE TIME

Title: Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Author: Hans Rosling
Publish Date:  April 7, 2020
ISBN: 1250123828  ISBN-13: 978-1250123824

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Ryan’s Reading Reviewsis a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Comments?

The majority of people loved Factfulness. Chances are you disagree with at least some of my review. Leave a comment if you wish about what you liked or didn’t like about the book.