FACTFULNESS REVIEW:
‘If you want to know the truth, no one is going to tell you the truth. They’re only going to tell you their own versions of the truth’ — the famous dialogue uttered by Benedict Cumberbatch in the movie ‘The Fifth Estate’ as the movie rolls towards the credits leaves a lasting impact on the viewers.
Currently, our world is facing the issues of poverty, corruption, climate change, and the threat of wars at global levels. Most of our opinions and views about these issues are formed by the daily sources of information like Social media, the Internet as well as various other kind of media outlets. However, rarely do we question its credibility. Recently, I happened to come across the book ‘FACTFULNESS’ which delved more regarding this subject. The description on the front page “Ten Reasons Why we are wrong about the World — and why things are better than you think” indeed seemed quite appealing.
The past year, (particularly due to COVID-19 outbreak) has also shown how the practice of misinformation is quite evident in our society. It has also led to the development of anxiety, fear, and panic among the people. There has been a sense of fear that due to the pandemic nature of the virus, we might get infected with it. But once, looking at a factual and analytical point of view and by following all the necessary social distancing and other norms as dictated by our governments, we gave ourselves a less chance of contracting the disease. Such instances have indeed sent us a clear message that we need to use the same approach while dealing with the different number of challenges that come across in our lives.
Hans Rosling was a medical doctor and professor and founder of Gapminder, an independent educational organization aimed at fighting global misconceptions. Unfortunately, this was his last book since he succumbed to the deadly disease of pancreatic cancer. Despite coming from a medical background, the way he attempts to clear such misapprehensions using fact based viewpoint is indeed noteworthy.
He attributes this ignorance to several dramatic instincts which have played a role in materializing our views and opinions of the world. For instance, since the earliest times, humans always have an inborn nature to classify all things as binary — good or bad, poor and rich, young and old, etc. This particular classification instinct shapes the way about how we view different things in this world. However, Hans implies that this is one of the instincts which creates an elusive viewpoint about some of the things in this world. He attempts to clarify these fallacies which we have a misinterpreted view of the world. Furthermore, even though many bad things are happening around the world every day, good things are happening at the same time. But due to selective reporting, they are not being reported at the same rate as bad news. Moreover, the author indicates to not balance all the negative views with positive views, but maintain both thoughts at the same time.
Other than that he had given several examples of his own life experiences in which these instincts had shaped his own thinking about the world. These examples are quite fascinating but at some parts of it may feel unnecessary at times. Throughout the book, he has made great use of graphs and charts as well to explain and convince us why some of the things in this world are better than before. To begin with, a quiz has been provided to test our general understanding of the world.
For me, the the nature of the the storytelling really stands out. Unlike any other self-help/positive-thinking books, this book actually tries to support it’s ideologies with any necessary evidences. It might be interesting to those who have an affinity towards non-fiction books and have a general curiosity and appetite about the general facts and happenings in the world. Initially, the book might seem like a bit of a drag during some parts of his narration, but gradually it steps up in gear. There are also parts within this book where the author has expressed very well how our nature as humans give rise to dramatic instincts within us that shape our thoughts and opinions about the world. The author has done a wonderful job of storytelling using graphs and charts and has articulated the inferences from them to actual theories in a splendid manner.
Overall, this book is quite an eye-opener and is indeed worth a read. It might fascinate an audience who have a general curiosity regarding the world in general and especially towards those having a bit cynical attitude in life, that things in this world are taking place in the worse direction. For readers who do not have a particular affinity towards non-fiction, this book may seem a bit pallid and stretched, but they are also suggested to read this book with an open mind. This book is really worth reading especially due to all the things that happened during the past year, there has been a pessimistic point of view in general that humanity and our lives, in general, are taking a turn for worse. However, for every bad deed happening in our world daily things are progressing in a better direction as well.