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Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Read by:
Richard Harries
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Ratings
Book
117
Narrator
22
Release Date
April 3, 2018
Duration
8 hours 52 minutes
Summary
For fans of Freakonomics and Thinking, Fast and Slow, here is a book by Hans Rosling, the scientist called 'a true inspiration' by Bill Gates, that teaches us how to see the world as it truly is. 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.
Reviews
Profile Avatar Kim F. Jul 2018

This was a great book! A little dry because it focused so much on 13 questions; but it quickly went into explanations of why we think and generalized the way we do. It maid me question my judgements of the world view.

Profile Avatar Whit Jensen Aug 2025

interesting concepts presented here in an fun listen with real examples. I speak up to 1.5 on the narration which I recommend. This book could have benefited from being written after the pandemic bit it was interesting to reflect on the pandemic using the facts and concepts presented here. my Biggest take away is that child birthrates are not dropping- they already have stabilized and there will be as many adults and children in the world 100 years from now as today.

Profile Avatar Diane C. Feb 2020

Dry and boring

Profile Avatar ILYA P. Jan 2020

Great book!

Profile Avatar Nathan S. Nov 2019

Overall great book, he himself missing major data points of vaccination and world population and some diseases and why they exists still... but I feel he is genuine and his major point is to be critical of "facts" and "numbers" as many times they are wrong and misplaced. The classic, the news reports on negativity and so the human mind is always on guard watching for bad news it triggers more survival needs to take these "facts" and numbers serious. Well being that facts are still only someones opinion anyway. Good book.

Profile Avatar Anonymous Oct 2019

slow and repetitive

Profile Avatar Harry H. Nov 2018

Brutal monotone narration. Subject matter not much better. How can you lecture and write an entire book about a dozen factoids (that are easily googled, I might add) as if you’ve discovered the Holy Grail? Author full of himself. I could not stay awake after 2 hours of this pain. Wasted $15.

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Author: Anna Rosling Ronnlund
Read by: Richard Harries
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