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

This is an amazing book. It's not a long book, about 255 pages--not counting over 20 pages of notes and 26 pages of sources--and it is written in a very accessible style, but it calls for slow thoughtful reading. Also the data is  a few years old; it was published in 2018. But I would recommend this book unequivocally for what it says about how we mis-interpret the state of the world and what we can do to be better informed and more data based decision makers. That information is timeless. In a very condensed version of the  reasons we get things consistently--and negatively--wrong are these instincts:  dividing things into groups (gap, e.g., us vs. them), believing trends will continue in a certain trajectory (straight line), not putting things in proportion (size), not recognizing slow change (destiny), blaming, negativity, fear, generalization, having a single perspective, and a sense of urgency. The author, Hans Rosling, offers fabulous charts, graphs and photos (all backed up by numerous data sources) that show the world is gradually--and sometimes rapidly-- getting better, which is a hopeful message in such seemingly dire times. He does not ignore the problems; in fact he identifies 5 major problems that could bring global disruption if not addressed: extreme poverty, financial collapse, WWIII, climate change, global pandemic. But by pointing out how things have improved, he advocates for using both historical and up-to-date data to take thoughtful and effective steps towards fostering trends in positive directions. Each chapter focuses on one of the ten instincts that hamper our understanding of the world and offers summary suggestions at the end to avoid falling into these traps.  Here's one example with regard to dividing the world into separate groups.

Recognize when a story talks about a gap (as if there are 2 separate groups rather than a continuum) and remember to look for the majority. 

Beware comparison of averages. If you look at the full range of data, groups overlap.

Beware comparison of extremes. In all groups of people, there are some extremes but the majority usually falls in the middle--right where we expect a gap (e.g. developed vs. developing countries).

Think about where you stand in relation to the data. Looking down from above distorts the view. Everything looks equally short, but it's not.  

The authors: Hans Rosling was a medical doctor, professor of international health and renowned public educator. He was an adviser to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and co-founded Médecins sans Frontières in Sweden and the Gapminder Foundation. His TED talks have been viewed more than 35 million times, and he was listed as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. ...
Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans's son and daughter-in-law, were co-founders of the Gapminder Foundation, and Ola its director from 2005 to 2007 and from 2010 to the present day. After Google acquired the bubble-chart tool called Trendalyzer, invented and designed by Anna and Ola, Ola became head of Google's Public Data Team and Anna the team's senior user experience (UX) designer. They have both received international awards for their work