This document provides an outline for the book "Factfulness" by Hans Rosling, which argues that people have inherent cognitive biases that cause them to perceive the world inaccurately. The author was a medical doctor and public health expert who co-founded organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières. The book aims to counteract common misconceptions like thinking the world is divided into developed and developing countries, that things are always getting worse, and that urgent action is always needed immediately. It encourages readers to rely on facts and data rather than instincts and generalizations when assessing global trends.
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medical doctor
professor of international health and renowned public
educator.
He was an adviser to the WHO and UNICEF,
he cofounded Médecins Sans Frontières in Sweden
and the Gapminder Foundation
THE AUTHOR
Hans Rosling
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The most important books I have ever read,
an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.
Bill Gates
INTRODUCTION
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DEDICATION
To the brave barefoot woman,
whose name I don’t know but whose rational
arguments
saved me from being sliced
by a mob of angry men with machetes
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TEN REASONS
THE GAP INSTINCT
THE NEGATIVE INSTINCT
THE STRAIGHT LINE INSTINCT
THE FEAR INSTINCT
THE SIZE INSTINCT
THE GENERALIZATION INSTINCT
THE DESTINY INSTINCT
THE SINGLE PERSPECTIVE INSTINCT
THE BLAME INSTINCT
THE URGENCY INSTINCT
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The Mega Misconception That
“The World Is Divided in Two
• “Developing” and “developed”
THE GAP INSTINCT
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FACT QUESTION 2
Where does the majority of the world population live?
A: Low-income countries
B: Middle-income countries
C: High-income countries
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middle-income countries.
It’s where 75 percent of humanity lives, right there where
the gap is supposed to be. Or, to put it another way, there
is no gap.
middle+ and high-income 91
. There are 5 billion potential consumers out there,
improving their lives in the middle.
You can easily miss them if you go around thinking they
are “poor.”
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Usually the majority is right there in the middle, where the gap is supposed to be.
To control the gap instinct, look for the majority.
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KNOWING THE REAL PROBLEM
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THE NEGATIVE INSTINCT
The world is getting better.
1
The world is getting worse.
2
The world is getting neither better nor
worse.
3
Which statement do you agree with most?
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The Mega Misconception That “The World Is Getting
Worse”
our tendency to notice the bad more than the good.
This instinct is behind the second mega misconception.
“Things are getting worse” is the statement about the world that
I hear more than any other.
Statistics as Therapy
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This is a sample text. Insert
your desired text here.
FACT QUESTION 3
In the last 20 years, the proportion of the
world population living in extreme poverty
has …
A: almost doubled
B: remained more or less the same
C: almost halved
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Good news is
not a news
Expect bad
news
Gradual
improvement
is not news
Beware of
rosy pasts
Experience
To control negative instinct ….
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THE URGENCY INSTINCT
Now or never! Learn Factfulness now! Tomorrow may be too late
But you have to decide now. You have to act now
Will you change the way you think today? Or live in ignorance forever? It’s up to
you.
“Act now, or lose the chance forever.”
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To control the urgency instinct
TAKE SMALL STEP
Ask for more time and more information. It’s rarely
now or never and it’s rarely either/or
TAKE A BREATH
If something is urgent and important, it should be
measured
INSIST ON THE DATA
Any prediction about the future is uncertain.
BEWARE OF FORTUNE-TELLERS
BE WARY OF DRASTIC ACTION
Ask what the side effects will be. Ask how the idea has
been tested