FACTFULNESS:

TEN REASONS WE’RE WRONG ABOUT THE WORLD—AND WHY THINGS ARE BETTER THAN YOU THINK

Feeling down about reports of terrorism, disease outbreaks, armed conflicts or natural disasters? Take a break from the news to read Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are

Better Than You Think (Flatiron Books, 2018), by the late Swedish physician Hans Rosling, who wrote the book after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in 2016. Famous for his TED talks, Rosling distills insights from his work in global health and regional development into a celebration of “the secret silent miracle of human progress.” He refuses to divide the world into developed and developing nations.

Instead, he describes four more-nuanced income strata, each continuously advancing. According to Rosling, we fail to see these positive trends because of human instincts that blind us. His conclusion: Deploy facts, not fear. “When we have a fact-based worldview we can see that the world is not as bad as it seems—and we can see what we have to do to keep

making it better.”