Factfulness:
Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You
Think – Hans Rosling (Flatiron)
Here is a test: I challenge you to head down to your
favorite big box bookstore and take a look around, I will bet that you will no
problem finding shelves and shelves of books on the power of positive thought.
The challenge is to try to find one, just one book that will help you be better
at being negative. Here’s a hint…you won’t find even one, because no one needs
a book to tell them how to be negative, because it’s an almost natural
inclination.
Dr. Hans Rosling, a medical doctor, professor of international
health and regular participant in TED Talks addresses the phenomena of ten
instincts he categorizes, that dictate and some cases distort our perspective
on the world around us in his new book Factfulness:
Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You
Think.
All too often writers or thinkers are describe as
influential because they impact what we think; Rosling has really set out to
impact or influence how we think. So much of what we are subjected to in the
ways of influence is based on the bias of the influencers and it becomes all
too often a case of garbage in garbage out. Rosling makes the case that when
you are pre-disposed to thinking negatively then that influence will simply reinforce
that thought process in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This book should become required reading for anyone who
wants to pursue a career in journalism. With the non-stop, 24/7 news cycle, the
Twitiots, Facebook and so much more is it any wonder that we have seen the rise
of fake news. Often all it takes is a dose of not-so-common sense and critical
thought to cut through the bias and raise questions about what is being served
up by the influencer class.
Rosling does a great job of dialing down the rhetoric
and our natural instincts, to put things into perspective that is free of bias
and actually based in fact…or in this case Factfulness.
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