Inside the mind of Hans Rosling


We all love Hans Rosling, the world's most famous data guru. Yesterday, at the Skoll World Forum, I interviewed him for More or Less on the BBC World Service, and loyal listeners and podcast subscribers will get to hear what we talked about in a week or two.


But before the tape started rolling I had a more intimate conversation with Hans about how he began his remarkable career, and what his influences and inspirations were. Here's a taste; Hans was a 24 year old medical student, with top grades in Sweden, taking a study year in Bangalore:


"I saw the lecturer put up a slide for discussion, I thought, 'that's kidney cancer, I'll keep quiet and let the Indian students talk before I explain'. In six minutes, they had exhausted all my knowledge. In those moments I realised the Indian students were better than me. I had always been in the top quarter. In Bangalore, I was bottom quarter. And that was when I realised how racist we all were, how we thought we were better because we had been born in a richer country, with better institutions."


You can read the full interview over at How To Make A Difference.


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Published on March 29, 2012 06:10
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