Sign in with Facebook
Think about the world. War, violence, natural disasters, man-made disasters, corruption. Things are bad, and it feels like they are getting worse, right? The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer; and the number of poor
...more
“When I see a lonely number in a news report, it always triggers an alarm: What should this lonely number be compared to? What was that number a year ago? Ten years ago? What is it in a comparable country or region? And what should it be divided by? What is the total of which this is a part? What would this be per person? I compare the rates, and only then do I decide whether it really is an important number.”
― 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
“Think about the world. War, violence, natural disasters, man-made disasters, corruption. Things are bad, and it feels like they are getting worse, right? The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer; and the number of poor just keeps increasing; and we will soon run out of resources unless we do something drastic. At least that’s the picture that most Westerners see in the media and carry around in their heads. I call it the overdramatic worldview. It’s stressful and misleading.”
― 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
“At the end of my opening lecture in my 1998 course on global health, most students headed for the coffee machine but one remained behind. I saw her wander slowly toward the front of the room with tears in her eyes, then, when she understood that I had noticed her, she stopped, flipped her face away, and looked out the window. She was obviously moved. I expected her to share with me a sad personal problem that was going to impede her participation in the course. Before I could say anything comforting she turned around, gained control over her emotions, and in a steady voice said something completely unexpected: “My family is from Iran. What you just said about the fast improvements in health and education in Iran was the first positive thing I’ve heard anyone from Sweden ever say about the Iranian people.”
― 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
“Parents in extreme poverty need many children for the reasons I set out earlier: for child labor but also to have extra children in case some children die. It is the countries with the highest child mortality rates, like Somalia, Chad, Mali, and Niger, where women have the most babies: between five and eight. Once parents see children survive, once the children are no longer needed for child labor, and once the women are educated and have information about and access to contraceptives, across cultures and religions both the men and the women instead start dreaming of having fewer, well-educated children.”
― 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
Northstack Book Club
— 15 members
— last activity Feb 05, 2019 11:57PM
Northstack Book Club, meets monthly.
Ólafur Nielsen’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Ólafur Nielsen’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1,353 books
|
179 friends
151 books
|
114 friends
1,001 books
|
224 friends
379 books
|
94 friends
648 books
|
121 friends
298 books
|
181 friends
167 books
|
39 friends
622 books
|
195 friends
More friends…
Polls voted on by Ólafur Nielsen
Lists liked by Ólafur Nielsen
