A world where deaths due to natural disasters are on an all time low; and crime rates have dropped considerably. Where nearly as many girls complete primary education as boys. Where child mortality is on an all time low and life expectancy on an all time high; where vast majority of children are vaccinated. A world in which most people have escaped from jaws of extreme poverty. A world which is no more divided into \”Developing\” and \”Developed\” because these labels have become obsolete. A world which is seeing one of its most peaceful times in recent history…
I am not talking about some Utopia but it is the reality of the world that we are living in today… You may find it hard to believe but Hans Rosling, a world renowned statistician , physician and academician and author of this wonderful book, will prove it dispelling some widely believed myths with help of a powerful tool in his kitty- Statistics( That too not some remote hard to get ones but widely published and accessible ones like those of WHO, UN and other similar organizations). As a person who studied medical and other health/ life related statistics as a part of my college curriculum I dispised the subject as boring and depressing. But the first time I saw a TED talk by Rosling, I was wonderstruck. Data, in his able hands transformed from being complicated, indecipherable static figures and diagrams to easy-to-understand dynamically moving and dancing bubbles( literally!). He also transformed something far more significantly- My worldview. So when I chanced upon this book, I picked it up greedily. I was hoping it would cover a lot more than his TED talks and was expecting it would change my perspective about the world we live in today…. And frankly, the book scored very high in both these aspects for me..
The subtitle of the book says \”Ten Reasons We\’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think\” and this is the most apt description of it\’s content. Rosling begins the book with questionnaire just like his talks; questions covering difficult topics like poverty, education, health, life expectancy etc. Don\’t be disappointed if you get most of it wrong, because after knowing the true facts, one is bound to feel pleasantly surprised and happy. He states he is not an optimist but a possibilist- someone who believes world is getting better; it\’s still bad in some aspects nevertheless getting better. Everyday. He goes on to prove it with hard facts and simple statistics, dispelling one myth at a time…While doing so he also covers a lot of anecdotes from his personal life- From his birth and childhood to his life as young physician in remote villages Africa, to his experience in working in some remote corners of the world to his discoveries about ignorance of general public at large.. The book is also extremely entertaining in it\’s narrative, as it intersperses global data with interesting real life stories drawn from his own life as physician, statistician, academician and public speaker. Most importantly, the book systematically addresses, examines and helps tackle a huge and widely prevalent problem- Ignorance about our current world…. By shedding light on some relevant questions- like why most of us perceive a grim reality about how things are getting worse when they are infact getting better mostly; about how deaths from TB and pneumonia ( major killers among the poor) and domestic violence will not make great headlines compared to flu outbreak or terrorism ( which has far lesser casualties). About how world is no more divided as West Vs Rest and how
Western domination will soon be history, with future superpowers in Asia and Africa. About how businesses across the world are targeting a wrong income group and how most countries have steadily increased their per capital income…He answers all these questions by focussing on ten prominent instincts that human beings show and has practical suggestions how to keep them in check, helping us to see reality in clear, unbiased way..
Rosling is a genius as he drives home every point of wisdom with a generous dose of humour making this book a compelling read. Do yourself a favour; switch off the news, keep away newspapers and internet and read this book. For nothing can be more comforting than knowing and discovering some very positive, reassuring but at the same time very real facts about our world….
A brilliant book not to be missed, a must read for everyone.
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