
Seeing human lives in spreadsheets: The work of Hans Rosling - Vigier
http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2017/02/14/seeing-human-lives-in-spreadsheets-the-work-of-hans-rosling/
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joe_the_user
"Rosling’s first discovery was that many people are not aware of even the most
basic facts about global health and global development. Through surveys he
conducted, Rosling found that at a time when poverty is falling faster than
ever before, the majority of people think that the proportion of the world
population living in extreme poverty is rising."

\-- I suspect most people tend to extrapolate their experiences and their
unhappiness to the globe, plus photos of impoverished Africans have been a
media/charity staple for years.

But really, there are two things happening. More and more people are joining
the money economy and so the people living on "pennies a day" are decreasing.
But oppositely, wealth inequality is vastly increasing and often standards of
living are decreasing for those in the money economy (who will never go back
to living on pennies a day but can still have a terrible standard of living).

As Chico Marx said, "who ya' gonna believe, me or your own eyes".

As a counter-point to the "we gotta educate people 'bout how what they think
is misery is really great" types of attitudes, I'd suggest this article from
an OECD economist Gabriela Ramos, who seems to finally notice that just
"education on statistics" isn't going to do it.

[http://oecdinsights.org/2017/02/01/telling-the-whole-
truth-i...](http://oecdinsights.org/2017/02/01/telling-the-whole-truth-in-a-
post-truth-environment/)

~~~
maxerickson
What populations do you think have taken the biggest hit to standard of
living?

~~~
sgift
People depending on blue-collar work in the developed world.

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jkuria
The Economist did a nice piece on him:

[http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-
technology/2171660...](http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-
technology/21716600-joy-stats-swedish-accent-hans-rosling-statistician-and)

------
soneca
His daughter posted a great short article about him on Gapminder's Facebook
page prefacing with a few words of her own. I will copy here her words and the
article.

 _" Hans would have loved reading this article after his death! Thousands and
thousands of wonderful words have been written about my father during the last
days. I knew he was popular. But I didn’t expect this avalanche of comforting
condolences. Thanks a million everyone! All the stories have been wonderful,
but last night one article made my jaw drop. While scrolling down the page I
kept thinking: Hans would have loved reading this after his death! The article
was called “This is how we let Hans Rosling rest in peace”. It was written in
Swedish, by someone I’d never heard of. How could this person know my father
so well? Was he a close friend of Hans, whom I had never met? How could he
express with such precision what my father was thinking and feeling? After I
woke up this morning I couldn’t resist calling the author, Peter Fällmar
Andersson, who answered with a humble voice. He told me he had interviewed
Hans only ones. Hans had mainly used the time to explain why he refused being
categorised as an optimist. In addition to that, Peter only had access to the
same free online material as everyone else. Peter, you must be a very good
listener! Many people didn’t hear what Hans was saying. And you must be a very
good writer. Hans never managed to express his frustration as clearly as you
do. The frustration of being fame, but not being listened to. And then you
convey what Hans wanted everyone to hear! Most people can not read our tribal
language (as Hans usually called Swedish). So I asked Peter to translate the
article. Please read carefully. Thanks Peter Ola Rosling"_

The article: [http://www.hd.se/2017-02-16/tva-soner-skots-till-dods-men-
fo...](http://www.hd.se/2017-02-16/tva-soner-skots-till-dods-men-foraldrarna-
nekas-dubbelt-skadestand)

 _" Peter Fällmar Andersson: This is how we let Hans Rosling rest in peace

Hans Rosling was said to be unable to deliver bad news.

That is a misconception. Three years before passing away, he remarked that the
one thing that had surprised him the most during his tenure as a global
educator was that he became so famous – despite having so little influence
over people’s real knowledge. He realized he was stuck in ”persona hell”, and
that people remained ignorant at a level worse than random guessing when they
took Gapminder’s tests. Not because of a lack of knowledge, but because of ”an
actively upheld ignorance”. He had discovered that people actively had set
their minds to remaining ignorant.

Hans Rosling had devoted decades to try to throw out our Tintin-like
perspective, but kept on having to say ”wrong, wrong, wrong” when the Swedish
people answered the question of how many children are born per woman in
Bangladesh.

So how do we let Hans Rosling rest in peace? By forgetting that he sometimes
swallowed swords in a heavy metal style tank top. And by remembering that
mothers in Bangladesh no longer give birth to five children on average, nor
four, but TWO POINT TWO children.

How do we let Hans Rosling rest in peace? By forgetting that he got more
clicks than Lady Gaga online. And by remembering that 80 percent of the
children of the world now have access to the most important and most cost
efficient of all vaccines: the one for measles. 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.

How do we let Hans Rosling rest in peace? By forgetting that he was a ”data
rock star” at the lecture network website Ted. And by remembering that life
expectancy globally has skyrocketed, and now averages 72 years. How do we let
Hans Rosling rest in peace? By forgetting false quotes, distributed by people
who want everything for the world but Rosling’s humanism. And by remembering
that he spoke of the refugees on the Mediterranean by saying: ”Send a ferry to
help them over, instead of saving them when they are about to drown”. How do
we let Hans Rosling rest in peace? By forgetting that he once competed in ”På
spåret”, one of Sweden’s oldest and most popular game shows.

And by remembering that Hans Rosling, the man, was a result of a political
struggle that created a nation built on social security, that made it possible
for him – who grew up in a home without a flushable toilet – to be the first
in his family to study at a higher level. His dad worked in a coffee factory,
his mother as an assistant at a library. And that he, thanks to that same
nation state, was able to receive his first cancer treatment as a father of
small children, at age 30. And that the treatment gave him another 38 years to
live.

How do we let Hans Rosling rest in peace? By – hesitantly – forgetting that he
once turned some colleagues down when they wanted him to take part in a
student comic theater celebration: ”got no time. gotta stop ebola. get
something online.”

And by remembering that Hans Rosling sometimes was mistaken, or drew the wrong
conclusions.

How do we let Hans Rosling rest in peace? Perhaps by following his example,
and whisper a quick ”thank you” when turning on the water faucet, to get
clean, fresh, healthy water.

In the spirit and hope of his heavenly harmony, may we finally understand what
his Lego blocks, his graphical bubbles and Swenglish accent were all about:

We hold our destiny in our own hands.

Translation from Swedish: Andreas Ekström"_

~~~
sorenjan
You have the wrong link to the original article, the one you link to is about
a double murder. This is the translated original:
[http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-02-13/this-is-how-we-let-
hans...](http://www.sydsvenskan.se/2017-02-13/this-is-how-we-let-hans-rosling-
rest-in-peace)

~~~
soneca
lol no idea how that happened. Thanks for correcting!

I cant edit my post anymore, so I hope people see your comment.

