Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World — and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, Book Review

Before diving into the details of my recently-read book, let me ask you all a question:

In all low-income countries across the world today, how many girls finish primary school?

a. 20 percent

b. 40 percent

c. 60 percent

I asked the same question on my Instagram and WhatsApp handle yesterday and to no surprise, a whopping 59% answered A: 20 per cent followed by 36% favoring B:40 per cent, validating and seconding the international results shared in this book (FACTFULNESS). The right answer, though, is 60 per cent.

Despite being so tech-oriented and flooded with information, we’re unable to make the right intelligent guess. The credit goes to our biases! Unfortunately, we’re all prune to think that we’re on the verge of a ‘world disaster’ with crippling diseases, pandemic woes, terrorism, natural disasters, climatic changes, crime, inequality, lack of proper education etc. etc.

Before reading this book, I too had the same perception and out of 13 such questions, I was able to make only 3 correct intelligent guesses. Why? Because we’ve been trained to think this way. This book opens the horizons of your mind and provides you a fact-based world view. Now, in no way does it emphasizes that oh wow! The world is a great place to live. It’s flawless and the best. Instead, it focuses on some realistic yet urgent issues to ponder. It also provides the practical solutions to tackle the ‘ten’ biases that distort our vision to see the world.

Hans Rosling’s Factfulness is an eye-opener! This 255-pages book will change the way you analyze things and that too in all the best ways. This book is written in association with Rosling’s son and daughter-in-law. It lists the following 10 biases (that we should all avoid):

1. Gap Instinct: A basic urge to divide things into 2 distinct groups only, with nothing but an empty gap in between. Good versus bad; heroes vs villains.
   How to Control? Look for the majority.
2. Negativity Instinct: Our tendency to notice the bad more than the good.
   How to Control? Expect bad news.
3. 3. Straight Line Instinct: Assuming that all trends lead to a straight line. For instance, thinking that the world population is increasing and increasing.
   How to Control? Remember that curves come in different shapes.
4. Fear Instinct: Perceptions of physical harm, captivity, and contamination trigger our fear instinct always. So we see everything from our ‘fear’ lens.
   How to Control? Calculate the risks!

Other instincts include: size instinct, generalization instinct, destiny instinct, single instinct, blame instinct, and urgency instinct. For details, you can read the book yourself.

Instilling Hans’ vision into myself to see the good and bad simultaneously, I’d like to share some surprising ‘positive’ facts about my country and not the negative ones as they’re always on our tips. Thanks to the media.

• The child mortality rate decreased from 252 in 1960 to 65 in 2020
• The life expectancy increased from 45 years to 67 years in 2020
• The suicide mortality rate has somewhat remained stable in the last 19 years at 8.9 deaths per 100,000 population
• Literacy rate has increased from 25% in 1981 to 58% in 2022

SOURCE: Worldbank data, Gapminder.org, and Macrotrends

This book and these facts don’t entail that things are perfect! They aren’t. It provides us a ‘fact-based’ worldview in contrast to our ‘dramatic’ worldview in which our minds are conditioned to think negatively, generalize one dangerous thing to all circumstances, and jump to conclusions.

While Factfulness uses statistical graphs, charts, and numbers to justify facts, it also highlights that numbers alone don’t serve any purpose if you lack your critical thinking skills.

Overall, I rate this book a 5 on 5 stars. It’s highly recommended if you reside on this planet. Oh, then it’s a must-read for you all. 😀

Until we meet again with another book review (if my academic commitments allow), I wish you all peace and happiness in your life. Feel free to add, comment, and share your feedback.