HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About…
Loading...

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (edition 2020)

by Hans Rosling (Author), Anna Rosling Rönnlund (Author), Ola Rosling (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3,1761064,189 (4.32)38
In general, I like the book. There are a few central themes I appreciate:
- don't make faulty assumptions based on past data. Don't extrapolate blindly
- don't assume your experiences and cultural background apply to all situations
- life is not as bad as it seems

I appreciate his insistence on data-based conclusions.

There are, however, dangers he ignored while writing this book. The main one is this: we often view data and present it in a manner that supports our pre-conceived ideas. Anyone who has sat through a marketing presentation will attest to this.

You will present data in a selective manner.

Are things as bad as they seem? In some ways, yes. In some ways, no.

It's good to be optimistic, but not blindly so. Conversely, it is inadvisable to be a blind pessimist

Alas, he addressed only one of these approaches, and this diminishes the value of the book. ( )
  RajivC | Mar 27, 2022 |
English (92)  Italian (3)  German (3)  Dutch (3)  Norwegian (1)  French (1)  Finnish (1)  Spanish (1)  All languages (105)
Showing 1-25 of 92 (next | show all)
This is a must read for just about everybody. If you're depressed about the state of the world, this book will help you see how much progress HAS been made (yes, there's still more to be made). If you want to take action to make the world better, this book has some steps you can take to do that. If you want to learn to think critically, this book will give you some tips and pointers on how to do that.

Just a very well written book peppered with personal anecdotes from Dr. Rosling as well as plenty of facts and figures. ( )
  teejayhanton | Mar 22, 2024 |
Should be required reading for every high school student on the planet... ( )
  yates9 | Feb 28, 2024 |
NF
  vorefamily | Feb 22, 2024 |
A good read exploring problems with our knowledge, and how to better question the "facts." ( )
  wvlibrarydude | Jan 14, 2024 |
For a book about statistics, this wasn’t boring. It’s engaging. While I definitely agree we’re constantly inundated with bad news (it’s attention-grabbing and networks need advertisers’ money) about the world, the attitude taken in this book is so nonchalant. Like, yeah, very few kids are dying in droves these days. Let’s pat ourselves on the back! There are reasons like colonization, corrupt governments, low innovation, etc why some countries are in the state they are in, but the book mostly skirts past that (it acknowledges this more toward the end).

Rosling notes things are improving. He gives an analogy about a premature baby in an incubator, which I thought was fitting. Yes, the baby is premature, but if their health is improving, that’s a good turn in the right direction.

The main takeaway of the book is an increase in education, sex education, and income helps lower the population. When people (read: women) have more money and education, they tend to have fewer children, so they can better care for them. With more income, countries can bounce back quicker after natural disasters, and their citizens have a better quality of life by each generation. I also like the idea of dividing different countries by income levels too.

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget how far we have come from the days of high child mortality and other unfortunate events. Maybe this is a reminder that the world isn’t completely hopeless.

Read this for Introduction to Business Statistics. ( )
  DestDest | Dec 5, 2023 |
Worth the time. Intuitively, I was already in step with a lot of the stuff in here, but I still learned a lot. Lovely to know things are so much better than the average bear thinks. ( )
  BBrookes | Dec 5, 2023 |
Does it seem like the world is getting more and more difficult to understand? Does it feel like everything is getting worse, yet you know that some things must be getting better? Does it seem like all of what is presented as news is bad news and disasters? Does it feel like everything you learned about the world in school might be wrong?

All of the above are true for me. After reading Hans Rosling's book, I'm pretty sure I'm necessarily smarter. But I think I have a better handle on how to approach the issues of the day and how they are presented in the modern media. And that's really the point of the book. It's not trying to provide simple facts (although it does present some astonishing statistics that are meant to challenge your world view). It is intended to give the reader the tools to digest all of the input that is flooding our lives.

If you want a taste of what the book contains, watch Hans' TED Talk: https://youtu.be/Sm5xF-UYgdg

Then, read his book.

Then encourage everyone you know to read his book. Let's all become dedicated to factful living. ( )
  zot79 | Aug 20, 2023 |
Learned a lot from this book. The quality of writing seemed to dip off in later chapters, but I expect that was because Hans Rosling wasn't able to complete the full book. ( )
  matsuko | Aug 17, 2023 |
"Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think"
In this posthumously published book, Swedish physician, global health lecturer, and academic statistician Rosling (1948-2017) presents statistics that show on almost any human problem that things are much better than they seem. People misinterpret and hyperbolize critical information about the contemporary world. People have an "overdramatic worldview" derived from the tendency to divide everything into two ("developed vs undeveloped world"), blaming one indicator for a myriad of troubles, and cultivating a negative mindset. Rosling presents a fact-based antidote to apocalyptic scenarios for world population overgrowth, rampant infant deaths, and soaring crime rates, none of which are ballooning out of control. He also examines five pressing real-world "risks" that demand attention: poverty, global warming, financial collapse, global pandemic, and a catastrophic third world war. ( )
  neurodrew | Jul 24, 2023 |
Fantastic - a real shot-in-the-arm for possibilists everywhere. Sad that Hans passed away too soon. This is one of the few books I want to give to all of my friends. I love the writing style and the explanations. ( )
  tgraettinger | Jul 22, 2023 |
Amazing book! Absolutely deserve the praise it's gotten. For me I can tell that it's a great book because only 100 pages in I was already telling everyone I met about things I had read in it ... and most of the time I didn't even have to steer the conversation in that direction, someone just happened to mention something that made me think of. So to me it feels like a very relevant and topical.

And it's hopeful, I do like that. I've been fighting my own cynism recently and I think factfulness is a great tool to do that. Rosling drives home the point that you can have two thoughts at once: things are bad, but they're getting better and we need to keep fighting to make sure they do get better.

So, this is a book I would highly recommend to anyone. Not only because of the information in it, because all the anecdotes were mostly funny and interesting, and it's worth reading just to get a glimpse of Hans Rosling's life. ( )
  upontheforemostship | Feb 22, 2023 |
Boken publicerades postumt 2018 då Hans Rosling avlidit i bukspottkörtelcancer året innan.[1] I boken lyfter Rosling upp faktumet att en stor del av världens befolkning har en föråldrad och felaktig bild av världen. Detta visas i boken med hjälp av ett enkelt test som innehåller tämligen basala frågor om världsläget men som människor tenderar att svara fel på.
  CalleFriden | Feb 10, 2023 |
This is a book unlike other books: it teaches the skill of thinking scientifically and critically in countering 10 ways we're wired to misfire in our conclusions, by someone involved in international health for many years. ( )
  Ricardo_das_Neves | Jan 14, 2023 |
"Factfulness: 10 Reasons we're wrong about the world - and why things are better than you think" is about exactly what it sounds like.

The author Hans Rosling, a physician, academic, and public speaker, spent his life working and teaching around the world - he has lived and worked in rural villages in Africa, hospitals in India, Swedish Universities, etc.. From this experience and supporting statistics, he knows that no matter what we see and hear around us today, the world is actually progressing much better than we think.
In this book Hans focuses on 10 reasons why we have been misled to not see it this way and how we can change our thinking to see the world in a more fact-based manner.

A must read for anyone who considers themselves a fact-based student of the world. ( )
  Ash92 | Dec 27, 2022 |
Learned a lot and had some great points, but there's a couple arguments that felt unnecesarily belittling. Like mocking his students for splitting the world into rich and poor, then following that up by splitting the world into just different degrees of rich and poor. Also saying "there's no evil people, so don't feel the need to blame individuals" in this political world. ( )
  martialalex92 | Dec 10, 2022 |
Whatever I wanted to say Melinda Gates sum it up already. “To have Hans Rosling as a teacher is one of the biggest honors in the world.”
  riton | Dec 6, 2022 |
Incredibly fascinating! A very important read for everyone! ( )
  JediBookLover | Oct 29, 2022 |
It is a book with a great idea - to show how personal biases distort our world view and that the world is rapidly improving.

The bad thing about this book is that it could be several times shorter and still convey the same information. Author's persistence on reiterating how most educated (and important) people have wrong assumptions on several topics gets a bit tedious.

Nevertheless, it is a great way to update your knowledge and remind yourself how much is affected by the biases (either personal ones or the ones in your environment). ( )
  Giedriusz | Oct 16, 2022 |
We should teach this book in school,university and everywhere
In addition to the facts correction about the world, two important points you will learn in this book
First: how to think about the facts thrown in our face every single day in our life from everyone, in daily conversations, media, internet, friends ,..
Imagine if you tried to think about all facts using the same methods mentioned in the book , how many more you will need to revise
The second point is "progress" : how to measure progress correctly , maybe the current progress in comparison to the end goal is not enough (usually it's never enough ) but still it's important and needed to compared to the initial state over time , it gives hope, there is a chance , maybe there is a hope after all ( )
  amaabdou | Oct 14, 2022 |

Nem tudom, megvan-e a Philadelphia c. filmből az a rész, amikor Denzel Washington azt mondja: „Most magyarázza el ezt úgy nekem, mintha egy hatéves gyerek volnék.” Na. Pont ilyen érzésem volt a könyv elején – mintha egy hatéves lennék, akinek épp magyaráznak. Rosling megosztja velünk, hogy mindenféle Nobel-díjasoknak, miniszterelnököknek, szuperbankároknak tart rendszeresen előadásokat, és minden előadás végén leveszi az ingét – alatta egy fekete atlétatrikó –, és lenyel egy kardot. Azt mondja, azért, mert ezzel példázza, hogy nincsen lehetetlen. Én meg azt gondoltam, nem, nem azért. Hanem hogy megmutassa, le tudja nyelni azt a kardot. És ezzel mindent elmondtunk Roslingról, vélekedtem. Ez pedig egy tipikusan „oszd el tízzel”-könyv lesz.

De tévedtem. A kötet innen tornázta fel magát négy csillagra. Sőt*. Ez nagy dolog ám.

Merthogy ha megszokjuk a szerző stílusát, rá kell jönnünk: igaza van. Valóban borzasztó pesszimistán szemléljük a minket körülvevő világot – sokkal rosszabbnak látjuk, mint amilyen valójában. És ebben partnereink vezetőink (róluk később) és a média is – utóbbi például sosem fogja hírként kezelni, hogy az idei volt repülésbiztonsági szempontból a legjobb év, amióta a gépmadarakat feltalálták, hanem inkább előszedi az egyetlen repülőt a millióból, ami lepottyant, és azzal kürtöli tele a főműsoridőt. Persze Rosling nem állítja, hogy ne lenne baj elég, nagyon is érzékeli, hogy a gazdasági válságok, a szegénység, a betegségek, a klímaváltozás vagy a háborúk jelen vannak és szenvedést okoznak. Annyit állít csupán, hogy nagyobbnak látjuk a bajt, mint amilyen valójában, és ennek az állításnak nem pusztán annyi az értelme, hogy ha hiszünk neki, akkor nyugodtabban alszunk. A túlpörgetett veszélyérzet ugyanis félelmet okoz, és aki félelem hatása alatt áll, az képtelen tisztán gondolkodni: siet, ezért nem jó megoldásokat választ, bűnbakokat keres, durván általánosít, és nem mellesleg irányíthatóvá válik. És itt jönnek be a képbe rossz vezetőink, akik a félelemmel tartanak minket pórázon, egyes veszélyeket nagyobbaknak mutatnak, mint amilyenek valójában, és ezzel arra késztetnek minket, hogy hozzájuk forduljunk támogatásért**. És itt nem tudom megállni, hogy ne jusson eszembe a bibói aforizma: „demokratának lenni mindenekelőtt annyit tesz, mint nem félni”***. Mert tényleg erről van szó: a félelem a bizalom ellensége. Bizalom nélkül nincs együttműködés. Együttműködés nélkül nincs társadalom – legalábbis olyan, amiben szeretnék élni. Szóval támaszkodjunk a tényekre. Keressük, kutassuk őket – e kötet szépen pontokba szedi nekünk, hogyan fogjunk hozzá. Használhatjuk mankónak ezt a könyvet is – bizonyos pontokon kifejezetten inspirálóan állít szembe minket az előítéleteinkkel. És nagyon frappáns sztorik is vannak benne. Még ha soknak is tűnnek néha – tagadhatatlanul frappánsak.

* Az utószóból megtudjuk, hogy Rosling a könyv írása alatt már tudta, hogy meg fog halni (hasnyálmirigy). Hogy ez az utolsó dobása, ezzel a kötettel kell a világot megváltania. Bevallom, itt óriási késztetést éreztem arra, hogy még egy fél csillagot tegyek az értékelésemre. Talán szőrös a szívem, de ellenálltam. De azért nagyon szorítok, hogy ez a könyv (Rosling posztumusz örömére) tegye jobbá ezt a bolygót.
** Meg kell jegyeznem, Rosling nagyobb bizalommal van vezetőink iránt, mint én – na ja, Svédország –, következésképpen a fenti mondat a roslingi állítások finoman módosított verziója. Viszont tartom, hogy egyenesen következik a szerző állításaiból. (Ha nem is a világ minden részén, de néhol: igen.) Ezt tekinthetjük akár e könyv hiányosságának is – hogy ezt a következményt nem részletezi.
*** A teljes mondat: „Demokratának lenni mindenekelőtt annyit tesz, mint nem félni: nem félni a más véleményűektől, a más nyelvűektől, a más fajúaktól, a forradalomtól, az összeesküvésektől, az ellenség ismeretlen gonosz szándékaitól, az ellenséges propagandától, a lekicsinyléstől és egyáltalán mindazoktól az imaginárius veszedelmektől, melyek azáltal válnak valódi veszedelmekké, hogy félünk tőlük.” Innen: A kelet-európai kisállamok nyomorúsága (1946) ( )
  Kuszma | Jul 2, 2022 |
A great reminder

This is a great reminder not to blindly trust things you see and hear. This was filled with a lot of information about critical thinking, examples of how data can be manipulated while still being "true", and insight behind why we think the way we do.

All information is backed up with a lengthy notes and sources section at the end. I do think it is important to note that he is not saying things are great or don't need improvement, just that they are often not as bad as portrayed.

I can't say I 100% agree with everything in this book; however, I love the main point of truly examining the facts, checking the data behind them and then basing your view on what you found out not just what you were told. ( )
  NicholeReadsWithCats | Jun 17, 2022 |
Scored worst than chimpanzees in the initial quiz! A great book to create a better, more accurate view of the world.
( )
  sotirop | May 20, 2022 |
One of the most important books I have ever read or will read. An absolute must read for everybody! ( )
  liberation999 | May 6, 2022 |
I can't imagine the target audience for this book: extremely privileged people who think that the world is objectively getting worse? Who are these people? Who doesn't know that basic life necessities are only becoming more available?

There's some good advice in this book, but it's mostly a waste of time. But then, I'm not the target audience: humans who only just materialized on Earth and haven't heard 100 variations of the joke about parents saying "when I was your age I had to walk to school over a hill in the snow." ( )
  brutalstirfry | May 6, 2022 |
I disliked this book when I've started reading it, specially due to its condescending tone, but the last chapters have changed my mind.
What is Factfulness about? The world can be bad and getting better at the same time. We tend to have an overdramatic worldview, which may affect our decisions and might get us stressed and worried about the wrong things.
I believe that I tend to avoid most of the dramatic instincts referred in the book. However, I have a very strong negativity instinct which kept me having internal discussions with the author and I'm still not convinced about some of the issues, namely the extreme poverty/ poverty question.

I mostly enjoyed learning about the four levels of income as I had an outdated view of the world and was still splitting it into developed and developing countries.
In this approach, the world is divided in four income level:
- Level 1: People living with less than 2 $/day
- Level 2: People living with 2 - 8 $/say
- Level 3: People living with 8-32 $/day
- Level 4: People living with >32 $/day

Although it is very comforting to know that only 10% of the world population is living in level 1 - Extreme poverty - I have trouble seeing "most people are living on the two middle levels, where people have most of their basic human needs met" as exciting news. Why? Because all 3 levels are below what is considered the US poverty line, which means that 86% of the world population is living under this line.
I do understand that is a huge difference between the 3 levels of income, specially for the people living in level 1, and I do see the evolution of people living on those levels as a positive fact that should be celebrated. My main question is: if the world keeps getting better when is the extreme poverty line going to be reviewed? When there is no more people living in level 1?
As you can see, my negative instinct is prevailing in this subject and I will keep trying to learn more about this.

Another issue for me was the question regarding the critically endangered species. In 1996 tigers, giant pandas and black rhinos were critically endangered and today they are not. This does not mean the world is getting better, this means that awareness and the measures taken to protect these species have worked.
By using this information the author is playing with the data to support his view, as all the bad guys referred in the book do. There is no more information regarding animal conservation on the book and the main purpose was to explain that it is possible to change the course of the events. However, the questionnaire was used to show that the world is a lot better than we might think, and by using the change on the conservation status of theses species the readers might be led to believe the same is happening in other species when it is not truth.
Between 1997 and 2020 the number of threatened species has increased. In the latest version for 2020, more than 15,400 animals were listed as threatened - almost double the number of 2007
(https://www.statista.com/chart/17122/number-of-threatened-species-red-list/).

I'm struggling between the 3 and 4 stars but I do recommend the book. ( )
  Sara_Machado | Apr 7, 2022 |
Showing 1-25 of 92 (next | show all)

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.32)
0.5 1
1 6
1.5
2 14
2.5 2
3 52
3.5 28
4 209
4.5 40
5 314

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,252,947 books! | Top bar: Always visible