How not to be ignorant about the world | Hans and Ola Rosling

TED15 minutes read

Deaths from natural disasters, education duration for women, and extreme poverty have shown significant improvement over the last century, with global ignorance on these facts being a prevalent issue. Understanding global trends and poverty is crucial for making informed decisions as the distribution of wealth and consumer market dominance is predicted to shift significantly by 2035.

Insights

  • Deaths from natural disasters have significantly decreased over the last century, showing a positive trend in global safety and disaster management.
  • Global poverty rates have nearly halved in the last 20 years, indicating progress in addressing economic disparities and improving living conditions worldwide.

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Recent questions

  • How have deaths from natural disasters changed over the last century?

    Deaths from natural disasters decreased significantly over the last century.

  • What is the education duration status for 30-year-old women globally?

    Women globally have almost caught up with men in terms of education duration.

  • How has extreme poverty percentage changed in the last 20 years?

    Extreme poverty has almost halved in the last 20 years.

  • What is the status of basic vaccines coverage for the majority of the world's children?

    The majority of the world's children have received basic vaccines against diseases.

  • How do global citizens typically perform when answering questions about global facts?

    The public often scores worse than random in answering questions about global facts.

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Summary

00:00

Global Progress and Ignorance: A Summary

  • Hans Rosling asks three multiple choice questions using a device for answers.
  • The first question concerns the change in deaths from natural disasters in the last century.
  • The second question is about the education duration for 30-year-old women globally.
  • The third question focuses on the change in extreme poverty percentage in the last 20 years.
  • Deaths from natural disasters decreased significantly over the last century.
  • Women globally have almost caught up with men in terms of education duration.
  • Extreme poverty has almost halved in the last 20 years.
  • The majority of the world's children have received basic vaccines against diseases.
  • The public often scores worse than random in answering questions about global facts.
  • Ola Rosling discusses the reasons for global ignorance and proposes a project to combat it.

15:44

Global Wealth Shift Predicted by 2035

  • The speaker shares four rules of thumb to approach fears and problems, emphasizing the need to avoid exaggeration and consider the rarity of actual dangers, suggesting that understanding poverty and global trends is crucial for making informed decisions.
  • By analyzing data from the IMF, the speaker predicts a significant shift in the distribution of rich consumers globally, highlighting a trend where the West will be outnumbered by the rest of the world in terms of wealth and consumer market dominance by 2035.
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