Factfulness

Factfulness by Hans Rosling is an eye-opening book that challenges common misconceptions about the world and reveals that, despite widespread pessimism, things are far better than most people think. Using data and engaging stories, Rosling shows that global health, education, and living standards have improved dramatically over time. He identifies ten “instincts,” like the fear instinct and the gap instinct, that distort our perception of reality and make us believe the world is worse than it is. By learning to think factfully—relying on evidence rather than emotion—readers can see the world more clearly and make better, more informed decisions.

Hans Rosling was a Swedish politician, academic, and public speaker. He was the Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and co-founder of Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. He held several TED talks and talked about using data to explore development issues.

He studied statistics and medicine at Uppsala University. He later studied public health at St John’s Medical College in India. He became a physician in 1976 and served as District Medical Officer in Nacala, Mozambique from 1979 to 1981. From 1981, he investigated the outbreak of konzo and earned his Ph.D. at Uppsala University in 1986. He discovered that outbreaks occur among hunger-stricken rural populations in Africa where malnutrition results from a diet solely based on cassava leading to high dietary cyanide intake.

In 2009, he was listed as one of the 100 leading global thinkers by Foreign Policy. In 2011 he was named one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company. He was elected member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and in 2012 as a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was included in the Time 100 of the world’s most influential people in 2012.