Factfulness ten reasons we're wrong about the world - and why things are better than you think

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. *the #1 Sunday Times Bestseller * Instant New York Times Bestseller * An Observer 'best Brainy Book Of The Decade' * #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller * Irish Times Bestseller * Audio Bestseller * Guardian Bestseller * * Endorsed By Barack Obama, Bill And Melinda Gates And Tom Harford, And Longlisted For The 2018 Financial Times/mckinsey Business Book Of The Year* The International Bestseller By Legendary Statisticians Hans, Ola And Anna Rosling: 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 Make You Realise Things Are Better Than You Thought. Introduction -- The gap instinct -- The negativity 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 -- Factfulness in practice -- Acknowledgements -- Appendix 1: How did your country do? -- Notes -- Index Essential reading in the time of coronavirus: the international bestseller that will make you realise things are better than you thought