Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, and Ola Rosling
★★★★★
Manual on getting an evidence based world view
Hans Rosling explains how media bias, ideological preconceptions and statistical illiteracy makes most people (in rich countries) believe in a gloomy and spectacularly wrong worldview. The book carefully explains by data and vivid examples how positive developments are systematically underreported, while disaster news are vastly over-reported. Rosling categorise the 10 most important sources of bias and misconceptions as well as explaining strategies on how to avoid them.
This book is a treasure trove of evidence based reasoning, global statistics and myth busting! I read it just after finishing Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. These books have a lot in common, both in goal and tone, but I enjoyed Rosling’s book much more.
Unless you have watched Roslings famous lectures (available on TED and Youtube), this book will forever change the way you understand global health, demography and development.