Can a book change your life?

Our teen Geographer brought Factfulness into the house.

Recommended reading from her Oxford tutor, she devoured it, passed it to my husband, he read it, they discussed it, he shelved it.

No more said.

I witnessed this exchange and assumed Factfulness was not for me. It must be designated for the geographers.

‘Til one Sunday Duncan and I were walking the dog, discussing ‘purpose’ and the need to really think about focusing effort where it’s needed most.

“But how do we determine where that is?” I said.

Not to be dramatic, but sometimes listening to the 10 o’clock news can feel overwhelming. During the COVID lockdowns, we ended up rationing our news exposure, so we stayed informed but didn't lie awake increasingly anxious about the rising death toll every night.

Now we’re back to: violence, poverty, injustice, rising sea levels, persecution, disease, living crises (cost/energy).

There’s so much to fix.

“You know the world’s in a lot better shape than you think,” my husband said “you should read Factfulness.”

Suddenly I’d been invited into the inner sanctum of the geo-spods!

Then there was a whole other worry.

Would I understand it? Geography was never my strength. Ask my son, I break out in a sweat when he tests me (with glee) on capital cities!

But, I could not have been more wrong.

Factfulness has delivered a cataclysmic lightening bolt and I don’t think I’m overselling it by saying everyone has a responsibility to read it!

It’s a beautifully written, clearly articulated, easy to understand and interpret book, which highlights the fabulous progress we are making and have made in the world.

It reminds us to question what we’re told, think about how we interpret the data we’re fed, how vital it is not to generalise (based on our own experiences) and how important the language we use is, in defining the world.

Factfulness kicks off with 13 multiple choice questions. About poverty, population growth, births, deaths, health and education. Easy. Just pick A, B or C.

Get the book. Have a go. See how you do.

Most people do extremely badly. Globally. Chimps do better. Literally.

Here’s “Question 4: What is the life expectancy of the world today?

A: 50 years

B: 60 years

C: 70 years

In 1800, life expectancy was roughly 30 years everywhere in the world. Of all babies born, roughly half died as infants, most of the other half died between 50 and 70, hence the average 30. It doesn’t mean most people lived to be 30. The majority died at either end of the age range.

The average life expectancy when the book was published (2017) was 72.

A few more Factfulness snippets….

“In 2016 40 million commercial passenger flights landed safely at their destinations. Only 10 ended in fatal accidents. Those 10 were the ones journalists wrote about.

In 1800 roughly 85% of all humanity lived in extreme poverty.

In 1997 42% of population of both India and China were living in extreme poverty.

By 2017 in India it had dropped to 12%, in China it dropped to 0.7%.

90% of girls of primary school age attend school across the world. 92% of boys. Almost no difference. Still gender differences in education for those living in extreme poverty (Level 1).

UN experts predict that by 2100 there will be 2 billion children (aged 0-15) the same as in 2017. The numbers are not expected to rise.

In 2016 4.2m babies died (Source: UNICEF) Almost all from easily preventable diseases.

In 2015 4.4m died and in 2014 4.5m.

In 1950 14.4m babies died.

So although 4.2million dead babies is 4.2 million too many, it’s over 10 million less than 66 years previously.”

This book is teaching me so much about the true state of the world and how far we’ve come but also where we can do better, where technology is really saving costs so vaccines can be offered cheaper, how we can be better informed, how important it is we don’t generalise, question the information we’re given and query the data.

And that’s got to be a good thing.

This book has confirmed for me how vital, clear written communication is. I would never have read it, if it hadn’t been so clearly articulated and illustrated, with plenty of storytelling to boot, so I could see and understand scenarios clearly in my head and I love it all the more for that!

So yes, in answer to my own question, I think a book can change your life!

Change yours. Read Factfulness.

Factfulness: written by Hans Rosling (with Ola Rosling & Anna Rosling Ronnlund) the Swedish physician & lecturer in Global Health, founder of Gapminder. On a mission to fight devastating ignorance with a fact-based worldview.

I’m off to offer clear writing skills to organisations already having a positive impact, because there’s a lot of good news to share.

I’ve seen that already in the last 6 years as a copywriter; sensor technology helping arable farmers farm smarter, sensor technology measuring super-localised air quality so kids with asthma can choose a less polluted walking route to school, healthcare innovation helping women suffering incontinence, encouraging everyone to “have a go” at CPR, banging the drum for a greater diversity of foster carers in Wales etc, etc.

If we’re going to continue to do better, we need to know what the state of play is, understand it and take the right action.

To communicate it, we need to write better.