Tuesday 12 June 2018

FACTFULNESS by Hans Rosling





Wow - I’ve just read this book, and its quite amazing - I’d recommend it to everyone. 

You may have seen or heard Hans Rosling in TED Talks in recent years, simply explaining that our mental models of the world today are broadly wrong - very wrong.  His approach, very much like W Edwards Deming, is to look at the numbers - and with clever presentation, clearly demonstrates where the real issues are based against poverty and wealth.

Armed with great data, better decisions can then be made.  One of my favourites: when a midwife in a poor country (level 1 poverty) was asked what she most needed to do her job properly, her response was needing a torch so she wasn’t killed by a snake whilst trekking to a patient in the dark.

If you want to dive in and spend 10 minutes understanding a little more, here’s their test, and see how you score on world poverty, health and wealth:

Their main website:

The book: