The world seems scarier than it is because what you hear about it has been selected—by your own attention filter or by the media

Why Things Are Better Then You Think

Some knowledge goes out of date quickly. Technology, countries, societies, cultures, and religions are constantly changing.

Update your knowledge

When something goes wrong don’t look for an individual or a group to blame. Accept that bad things can happen without anyone intending them to. Instead spend your energy on understanding the multiple interacting causes, or system, that created the situation.

Look for causes, not villains

Our tendency to find a clear, simple reason for why something bad has happened.

The Blame Instinct

Human beings have a strong dramatic instinct toward binary thinking, a basic urge to divide things into two distinct groups,

The gap instinct describes our tendency to divide things into two distinct and often conflicting groups with an imagined gap in between them.

The gap instinct 

A small change every year can translate to a huge change over time.

Keep track of gradual improvements

Our tendency to notice the bad more than the good (e.g. believing that things are getting worse when things are actually getting better).

The Negativity Instinct

We are often wrong about the world, people always tell us how bad it is and how bad it will be, blaming the new generations and technology. Use your brain, improve yourself, your knowledge and ideas, don't trust and don't absorb everything people say: TRUST FACTS.

"When asked simple questions about global trends - what percentage of the world's population lives in poverty, why the world's population is increasing, how many girls finish school - we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanze choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, investment bankers, and Nobel laureates. [Here] ... Hans Rosling - together with his two longtime collaborators, Anna and Ola - offers a radical new exploration of why thsi happens. They reveal the ten instincts that divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse)."--Jacket.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

education

Learning & Education

books

Books

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.

Hans Rosling (1948 – 2017) was a Swedish physician, academic, statistician, and public speaker.He was the Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and was the co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software. He held presentations around the world, including several TED Talks in which he promoted the use of data to explore development issues.

Hans Rosling

Ola Rosling is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Ola Rosling has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Ola Rosling's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Ola Rosling

Anna Rosling Rönnlund is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Anna Rosling Rönnlund has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Anna Rosling Rönnlund's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Look for causes, not villains

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