Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

by Hans Rosling

This book is my very last battle in my lifelong mission to fight devastating global ignorance.

Critical thinking is always difficult, but it’s almost impossible when we are scared. There’s no room for facts when our minds are occupied by fear.

The fear instinct is a terrible guide for understanding the world. It makes us give our attention to the unlikely dangers that we are most afraid of, and neglect what is actually most risky.

When people tell me we must act now, it makes me hesitate. In most cases, they are just trying to stop me from thinking clearly.

keep their own brains cool so that they can make good decisions and take sensible actions, and not put their credibility at risk.

We should be teaching them how to hold the two ideas at the same time: that bad things are going on in the world, but that many things are getting better.

Most important of all, we should be teaching our children humility and curiosity.