Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Hans Rosling´s Myth Busting




Gapminder.org posted this message on Tuesday morning, February 7, 2017

“Sad to announce: Hans Rosling passed away this morning” 


Hans Rosling was a worldwide known messenger of myth busting and what he called a factual worldview based on optimism proved by facts. He will be remembered for his work and his engagements, and his presentations are still up-to-date. 

Following is an introduction to some of his “myth busting” presentations and links to all of them.





Hans Rosling´s TED-talk on “Religions and Babies”

Rosling used his data-bubble software to burst myths, and he reached a surprising and positive conclusion on world fertility rates: “We will be just 10 billion in this world, if the poorest people get out of poverty, their children survive, and they get access to family planning”
Subtitles in 33 languages. Interactive transcript.  (19 min., TED Talk video)




Hans Rosling: “The good news of the decade? We’re winning the war against child mortality”

Subtitles in 33 languages. Interactive transcript.  (15 min, TED Talk video)


Hans Rosling: “Global population growth, box by box”

“Only by raising the living standards on the poorest can we check the population growth”.
His conclusion is … “We will not be able to manage the environment and avoid the terrible climate crisis if we don´t stabilize the world population. Let´s be clear about that. And the way to do that is …”

      reduce child mortality;
      provide access to family planning;
      expand female education.

“This is fully possible. Let´s do it!”

Subtitles in 33 languages. Interactive transcript.  (10 min, TED Talk video)




Hans Rosling: “Don´t Panic – End Poverty”

The United Nations has announced their boldest goal ever: To eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, by 2030.
Up-to-date statistics show that recent global progress is ‘the greatest story of our time – possibly the greatest story in all of human history. The goal seems unrealistic to many highly educated people because their worldview is lagging 60 years behind reality.”




All Hans Rosling´s videos can be found at TED-TALKS  LINK & at Gapminder.org LINK
The activities at Gapminder Institute will be continued by his son and wife, who were co-founders.


Deepening from other sources:

- “Overpopulation – The Human Explosion Explained” with English subtitles LINK to "Kurzgesagt - in a Nutshell" (7 min., video)
- Recommended by Rosling: Melinda Gates: “Let’s put birth control back on the agenda”. Subtitles in 33 languages. Interactive transcript.  (25 min., TED Talk video)
- Compare “Population Pyramids of the World from 1950-2100” by clicking on the names of chosen countries LINK





Last words

Here is an obituary that describes precisely what we have lost:
“This is how we let Hans Rosling rest in peace” LINK
Quote from the article:
“…How do we let Hans Rosling rest in peace? 
By forgetting that Time Magazine put him on some list. 
And by remembering that Hans Rosling was certain that the world, if it got it’s act together, can reach the goal that the United Nations set for the year 2030: to exterminate extreme poverty for everyone, everywhere.”