Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Anna Rosling Ronnlund · Hans Rosling · Ola Rosling
Apr 2018 · RB Media · Narrated by Richard Harries
4.1star
21 reviews
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8 hr 51 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
For fans of Freakonomics and Thinking, Fast and Slow, here is a book by Hans Rosling, the scientist called "a true inspiration" by Bill Gates, that teaches us how to see the world as it truly is. 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.
Ratings and reviews
4.1
21 reviews
Sargocentron
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February 5, 2020
If this were read at a normal pace it would be 1 hour long. I had to delete it partially through the first chapter. The long pauses along with the simple sentence structure and repetition was putting me to sleep. I was afraid I was going to crash my car.
A Google user
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June 1, 2018
This book was so amazing i bought the physical book as well. As a Psych Honours undergrad and going into data science in grad school this book in many ways was not surprising, however the information polled was shocking to say the least! Moreover, Hans Rosling does an excellent job in consolidating all these errors in judgment into impulsivity (which they actually are) coupled with real world consequences. This book is a VALUABLE book, those that did not take statistics or the application of them coupled with errors in cognitive processes (mostly system 1 thinking) would be amazed to start realizing how the world works through this book. Highly recommended, especially since Hans Rosling is my personal hero!
11 people found this review helpful
Ultimician Griver
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July 17, 2018
Goes on and on about how other people guessed the numbers wrong on a
statistic someone prepared for him, then compares them to animals...
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