Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

When we think about the current state of affairs in the world, it seems to us that every year things become worse and worse. Natural disasters take more and more lives, populations of rare animals belonging to endangered species are dwindling literally before our eyes, and the share of the world’s population living in poverty is steadily increasing. But in reality, it’s exactly the opposite. In his book “Factfulness. Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—And Why Things Are Better Than You Think,” the scientist, doctor, lecturer, and one of the founders of the Swedish branch of the organization Doctors Without Borders, Hans Rosling, not only explains the most common mistakes our brains make when trying to assess global changes happening in the world—but also provides tools that help you learn how to correctly see and understand the overall picture, even if you don’t have time to analyze small details. Read this book, and you’ll understand how our world is truly structured, what changes are taking place in it, and where these changes will lead us. And no, things don’t get worse with every passing year. In fact, everything is getting better. The ideal book to stop fearing the future. The world is divided in two halves. In rich countries people live happily, the elderly are cared for, children almost don’t die, there is enough food for everyone—and the situation is only improving. In poor countries there is a critically high share of child deaths, the standard of living for older people is extraordinarily low, there isn’t enough food, and year by year it becomes only worse and worse. This is just one of the misconceptions that has nothing to do with statistics. In reality, there are many such misconceptions—an incredible number. The scientist specializing in global health, doctor, popular lecturer, and one of the founders of the Swedish branch of Doctors Without Borders, Hans Rosling, shows how far our beliefs about the world sometimes are from the truth. Is the gap between the rich and the poor really widening? Are more and more rare species becoming extinct? Is education levels falling worldwide? Are forests and protected areas shrinking on Earth? Real answers to these questions can flip the usual pessimistic picture of the world upside down.