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Factfulness : ten reasons we're wrong about the world--and why things are better than you think Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: New York Times Bestsellers NonfictionPublication details: New York : Flatiron Books, c2018.Description: x, 342 p. : ill., col.maps ; 23 cmISBN:
  • 9781250107817
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 155.9042 RO FA
Online resources: Summary: "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. Professor and TED presenter Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical 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."--
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Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Notes Date due Barcode Course reserves
REGULAR University of Wollongong in Dubai Main Collection 302.12 RO FA (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available May2019 T0062213

IFYSC001 Autumn2024

REGULAR University of Wollongong in Dubai Tough Topics 155.9042 RO FA (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available March2019 T0061978

Maps on lining papers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-325) and index.

"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. Professor and TED presenter Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical 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."--

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