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Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong about the World--And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong about the World--And Why Things Are Better Than You Think | Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rnnlund, Ola Rosling
"One of the most important books I've ever read--an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world." - Bill Gates"Hans Rosling tells the story of 'the secret silent miracle of human progress' as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly." --Melinda GatesFactfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends--what percentage of the world's population live in poverty; why the world's population is increasing; how many girls finish school--we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective--from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don't know what we don't know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases.It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn't mean there aren't real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. ---"This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn't enough. But I hope this book will be." Hans Rosling, February 2017.
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Adventures_of_a_French_Reader
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Pickpick

4/5
Excellent read to (re)view the basics of critical thinking.
Sometimes, he sounds a little too preachy, but I value his honesty when recounting the times he made mistakes in assessing situations.
Written in 2018, but already outdated when it comes to social media and algorithms. Still, it made for a very interesting discussion at my book club.
Very easy to read, very accessible.

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NikkiM5
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Pickpick

Rosling‘s experiences were amazing, I mean what a life! I did well on the facts quiz, but my eyes were opened to some of my own biases. It was a good reminder to fact check more often ☮️

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Kell1
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Pickpick

By far the best book I have read this year. It will change the way you look at the world and expose your biases. Living in a developing country, I can attest to the author's point of view that people from the west are often shocked when they visit the country as they expect to find lions and zebras cohabiting with us, and find something very similar to where they come from. The book is filled with interesting facts and stories. Highly reccomended

IuliaC Great review to a great book! 1y
14 likes1 comment
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Jari-chan
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This book was one of my last years highlights. It changed the way I look at things and had a big impact on me. Since I borrowed it from the Library, I never had a copy of my own.

Until one day last week when I came back from lunch break and realized, that someone had dropped his/her read copy in front of our bookstore.

Of course, I adopted the book immediately. Thank you, dear stranger, you made someone very happy ❤️

IuliaC I love this book too! I first borrowed it from the library and once I read it, I wanted a copy of my own 4y
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crhealey
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Resorting books and wondering if I should start this one from 2018 for #nonfictionnovember because it will make me feel better or if I read it, will I just shake my head and be like “oh you have no idea what‘s coming?” 😂 #stupidcovid #2020isdefnotbetterthanwethink

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Nute
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Pickpick

Fellow Littens,
I can‘t wait for you to read this book and share your thoughts with me. Many online reviews claim to get it now. The overall view of the world is warped or based on incomplete or incorrect facts. Things are better than most folks think. So either I have a newly developed cynical outlook or this argument is not resonating as believable to me. Maybe I can only see the world through the current lens - it‘s a hot mess!
However...
👇🏽

Nute the author is inspiring. If you can‘t connect to his optimism in this book then watch his TedTalk instead. It is fascinating and I guarantee that you‘ll feed from his infectious energy. He is dynamic. In some strange kind of way, I do not doubt that he could convince me of some upward trajectory for ALL the ails of the world over time!👇🏽
4y
Nute Why select this book as a ‘Pick‘ because damnit I have HOPE for this world, it‘s people and it‘s messed up circumstances.
4y
AlaMich I‘d like to be hopeful but....😞 4y
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Billypar Great review! I think I heard some of this author's Ted talk, or at least one along similar lines. It kind of boils down to, yes it's a hot mess now, it's just that it was even worse as you go back earlier and earlier in human history. I share your hope that things will continue to be less terrible! 4y
Bookwormjillk Thank you for pointing this out. I‘ll give it a try. 4y
tenar I loved this book, but I also didn‘t think it was a complete view. He obviously doesn‘t examine every aspect of our global society, and the information on endangered species particularly was pick-and-choosy. (For example, plants are faring much Worse than most of us think.) But he tackled some of the most common misconceptions I know of, ⤵️ 4y
tenar ↪️ and what I appreciated most was that, while the author was trying to convince us of his point of view, he spent just as much time sharing tools to help readers make better sense of claims and data. I feel like it‘s an excellent book but should hopefully lead to continued reading. 🤞 Damnit, I guess that means I have hope for this world and its people, too. 4y
Nute @AlaMich Hope is the greatest sustaining force!💕 4y
Nute @Billypar @tenar Thank you! It‘s agreed that many of the statistics that he examined are performing with increased positive value. Yes, there are more immunized children, decreased incidents of infant mortality, more allowances for female children to receive education and less extreme poverty. And Mr. Rosling addresses the tendency of human nature to see the negative in greater proportion to what is positive. I don‘t want to see from that 👇🏽 (edited) 4y
Nute perspective. I want to sing praises to optimism. As Leah stated it was not a scrutiny of every aspect of our global society. I‘m curious to know did you both fare better than the chimpanzees on the Test Yourself Questionnaires? Were you surprised by the data for areas showing dramatic improvement? I knew that there was improvement in many of those areas. There was one fact that was quite a surprise. I can‘t remember which one.👇🏽 4y
Nute Do you all feel that most people have a misconception about these particular global statistics? I think that the book is worth reading...definitely for the motivation to research, discuss and learn, and the inspiration to live with positivity. Ms. Leah - watch his TedTalk if you get a chance. Vinnie - I think that I would definitely rather live in this time era than any other! 4y
SW-T I like to think of this book as a tool for critical thinking. The measures he addresses are interesting, but the headlines these days aren‘t inspiring. But, I tell myself that there is hope, there is improvement, and there is change...but happy news doesn‘t get the headline space. As a woman of color I think to myself: I have an education, I can vote, own property, have a job, drive a car...all things my ancestors only dreamed of. Those are facts. 4y
Nute @SW-T Yes! There is definite data that is indicative of progress. If we are talking specifically about people of color and women - yes, thank goodness we can vote, obtain an education, have jobs and own property, but even within those areas we continue to be challenged for equal status and equity. Is the fact that we can do those things enough to say that the world is better than we think it is?👇🏽 4y
Nute I agree that it is enough to be thankful for those forward steps. I agree that happy news takes a backseat to news of despair, sorrow and victimization. I choose like you, Ms. Sallie, to have hope! 4y
tenar If I recall correctly, I scored a smidge better than the average, which I think was about the same as the chimpanzees! One of the takeaways I actually remember most from the book was that even workers in global public policy sometimes scored quite poorly on the quiz. That was really fascinating to me, and I thought it showed evidence of a negativity bias even in the face of a high level of knowledge. I will watch his talk, thank you! 4y
NikkiM5 Adding because I don‘t mind increasing my optimism and hope ❤️ I look forward to this 4y
Reggie This Debbie Downer is stacking. Thanks for putting this out there, Kimberly. 4y
Centique Stacking! This sounds really good. I listen to a couple of podcasts about science, history, critical thinking etc and they also make me feel more optimistic. We‘ve survived, we‘ve improved before. I have hope for us! But absolutely do need to keep the pressure on leaders to do better and opening minds for social changes. 💕🤞💕 4y
SW-T @Nute Change takes a long time. True change even longer, but every step is progress. Things are better...not perfect. The long view is what I hold on to. I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors. They fought for the rights I have now. My niece or great-niece might see true change. I can dream the dream and keep it alive for them. Think how long it took to get this far...but we‘re here. So, things are better, but we can keep improving. 4y
DAB I am going to read that book because I can use some good news about this world. 4y
Nute @DAB Come back and give me your thoughts after you read this book.🙂 4y
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Jaz09
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Pickpick

It holds some really astonishing facts which is hard to accept.

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Nute
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#Two4Tuesday

1. One of the books that I have had a lot of conversation about in 2020 is Factfulness: Ten Reasons We‘re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think. I reread this book for a dose of optimism, but somehow these facts don‘t add up the same way in light of current affairs. Mr. Rosling has passed away now. I can‘t help but wonder if the subtitle for his book would be different if it had been published this year!👇🏽

Nute 2. Not often. Litsy serves its purpose well!😊

Tag: @Butterfinger @Lova

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView 💕
(edited) 4y
Butterfinger Thanks for the tag. 4y
TheSpineView You're welcome and Thanks for playing! 😘📚🤩 4y
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sudi I had the same feeling about that book and I think that's why I've been putting off reading it. But maybe I need to finally read and see what the author has to say. 4y
Nute @sudi Please read and then help get me in the right frame of mind to be a believer!🙂 4y
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Akashsd013
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Pickpick

One of the best non-fiction books. Beautifully written. "This is data as you have never known it: it is data as therapy." It captures all the dramatic instincts which acts as a barrier for everyone in seeing and processing facts.

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ruchigandhi22
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Pickpick

I cannot stress how much I loved this book.
One of the best non fiction books with so many eye openers.
It's a book full of amazing facts which for a change makes you feel better about the world we live it. It even gives light to some important issues regarding poverty line and statistics.
A very easy read. Read it slowly and take in every fact. You will surely love it. Trust me :D

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UnRuLee
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Pickpick

I seriously want to mail everybody in the world a copy of this book.

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Querencia
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Pickpick

Facts I learnt from this book:
1. I'm never gonna see the world in the same way as before, after reading this.
2. There is an ocean of stuff to learn even if we think we know something about the #world.
3. This book is goddamn awesome. Just read it.
#factfulness #hansrosling #respect ❤🙏

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Bookworm_97
Pickpick

A Most Important book for current situation

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Bookworm_97
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🖤 🖤 🖤 💯 ✅ 🖤 🖤 🖤

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Bookworm_97
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❤ Sweden ❤️

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Bookworm_97
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We are subjected to never-ending cascades of negative news from across the world: wars, famines, natural disasters, political mistakes, corruption, budget cuts, diseases, mass layoffs, acts of terror. Journalists who reported flights that didn‘t crash or crops that didn‘t fail would quickly lose their jobs. Stories about gradual improvements rarely make the front page even when they occur on a dramatic scale and impact millions of people.

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IuliaC
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“This is data as you have never known it: it is data as therapy. It is understanding as a source of mental peace. Because the world is not as dramatic as it seems. Factfulness, like a healthy diet and regular exercise, can and should become part of your daily life. Start to practice it, and you will be able to replace your over-dramatic worldview with a worldview based on facts.”

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swynn
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Pickpick

Hans Rosling wants: (1) To convince you that global health and living conditions are better than you think; and (2) To offer a manual of common fallacies to avoid in critical thinking. He does the first very well, and fine with the second. I have criticisms about presentation, which is sometimes misleading, and about examples outside his area of expertise. But the message is important, and I'm glad it's getting attention.

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anokokona
Pickpick

This book is all about critical thinking, based on facts and statistics - up to date facts and statistics - with an open and ready-to-be-corrected mind, capturing the reality as it is. This book tells us how our world has been improved more than what most of us think, but it‘s not the point of this book and we need to go further. This book is easy to read and I‘m glad that I read this book.

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jazza08
Pickpick

An amazing author and what a life, the book is a great read that I'd recommend to everyone. Certainly refreshing and a helpful reminder about human bias.

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anokokona

The goal of higher income is not just bigger piles of money. The goal of longer lives is not just extra time. The ultimate goal is to have the freedom to do what we want.

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anokokona

Step-by-step, year-by-year, the world is improving. Not on every single measure every single year, but as a rule. Though the world faces huge challenges, we have made tremendous progress.

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AJackets
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Mehso-so

I must start by saying: I listened to this book. I have heard while discussing this book that you need to look at the book to fully appreciate the graphics/graphs/idea.
I did not find this book interesting. I don't like "gotcha" styled non fiction. This whole book seems to be built around showing how wrong we are about our negative world view. Which is fine until you pull back and realize we are all wrong which is a negative world view again.

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Smrloomis
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Pickpick

This was really thought-provoking. I didn‘t love the tone in the introduction or first chapter - too self-help-y - but I kept reading and I‘m very, very glad I did. And now I will go to bed feeling very pleased with myself that I was able to return it EARLY. 🥳

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akuzo_lohe
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Pickpick

One of the most needed books I read. Thank you

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Jari-chan
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Pickpick

Wow! Just WOW! This book changed almost everything I thought I knew. This should be thaught at schools. Again: wow!

charl08 Crumbs! That's quite a review... 5y
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jazza08
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It's quite relaxing being humble, because it means you can stop feeling pressured to have a view about everything, and stop feeling you must be ready to defend your views all the time.

Nute Welcome to Litsy! It‘s a warm and friendly community. I know that you will enjoy yourself here. I‘m looking forward to getting to know you!🙂 5y
5 likes1 comment
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LauraJ
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Pickpick

The club agrees this is a pick! Unless, that is, you‘ve read Stephen Pinker‘s The Better Angels of Our Nature, which is a more detailed and much longer look at the topic. Rosling‘s book is much more accessible and has nifty graphics.

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BriW
Pickpick

Everyone should be required to read this

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SW-T
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Pickpick

An easy read, but it really makes you rethink what you think you know about the world. Provides a new way of viewing the world from a global perspective. Also a great reminder that progress is happening daily and that we‘re better off than ever in many respects (longevity, medical advances, technology.)

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SW-T
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I‘m barely a third of the way through this one, but there‘s so much to digest. Amazing how you can be informed, but realize that what you know about something is minuscule.

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LauraJ
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This is my book club‘s June pick and I‘m already amused.

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Tkgbjenn1
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Pickpick

This book is a recommended read by Bill Gates. In short, the way we view the world is based on information we learned in High School or College. And even that data may have been 10 to 20 years out of date. The world is healthier, wealthier, better educated, safer than most of us believe. The idea that the world is split in two: the developing and the developed world are outmoded ideas. The truth most of the world fall somewhere in between.

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Well-ReadNeck
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Henrik_Madsen Nice review🙂🙂 6y
Leftcoastzen Love your review! 6y
Gillyreads Great review. :) 6y
67 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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ClairesReads
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The Auckland Writers Festival was an amazing weekend 😍 #awf19

Redheadrambles @ClairesReads looks like a nice haul. It was lovely to catch up 6y
Pricel101 Let us know how you enjoy Brother! 6y
ClairesReads @Redheadrambles it was! Finally! 6y
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ClairesReads @Pricel101 will do- Chariandy was an excellent speaker 6y
Centique I missed it because I was overseas, darn it! Glad you had fun 😊 5y
ClairesReads @Centique bummer! I hope your trip was good! 5y
Centique @ClairesReads it was! And I finished Burnt Shadows while I was away - coincidentally - it‘s excellent 👍 5y
ClairesReads @Centique excellent news 😊 5y
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Jenniebooks
Pickpick

Mind broadening . Satisfies our scientific nature. Admire author for total life achievement .

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wtimblin
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Pickpick

I knew I was going to love this book based on recommendations from people who know me. Wasn‘t disappointed. I spend a lot of my professional life explaining some of these concepts when I deliver CBT, so some of it wasn‘t new. But I learned loads of new critical analysis techniques, and totally changed my perspective about the current ‘state‘ of the world. Would definitely recommend

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Eva_B
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Pickpick

Wow! This book was great! I believe that critical thinking and checking out the facts are vital to understanding the world we live in. This book really does make you feel better about the world. Well worth reading!

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Eva_B
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Hmm...love a book with graphs!. This is not as boring as it looks 😀. This book comes highly recommended by a friend of mine. It was also on Barack Obama‘s summer reading list in 2018.

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Ozzle
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Pickpick

Bill Gates said this book was one of the most important books he's read, he was spot on! It's truly amazing what a cynical view of the world most of us have. Hans has done all the hard work of data analysis, all you have to do is go in with an open mind, a willingness to change it and admit your strongly held views of the world might be wrong. Chloe gives it an enthusiastic paw up! #60in12challenge #factfulness #reviewswithmypup

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Nute
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Optimism in the world today? The struggle is real. Thank goodness for a book like this!

Fun Alert: I‘m finally reading on my new Kindle Fire. Yay!😃

Chelleo How do you like your new Kindle? 6y
Nute @Chelleo I love it for the ease of carrying multiple books around. I love it even more for having a bookstore at my fingertips in the middle of the night. But it hasn‘t hampered my desire to buy physical books...not like I thought it would. And I don‘t read on it that much. I think I‘m caught up in the novelty of saying I have a Kindle Fire right now...nothing more. Maybe it‘s going to take some time.🤷🏽‍♀️ 6y
Chelleo I love mine for the same reasons. I ro find that I read extremely slowly on my kindle (which could be the books being read). 6y
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KS1805
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Pickpick

I am so curious about why liberals find this book unappealing and conservatives don‘t. I found the book to be a great, if imperfect, call to have a more nimble mind.

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sakibikas
Mehso-so

I finished teaching the book recently. The book is a good read especially if you follow mainstream media and are tense about the world problems. It also provides an insight into data led decision making. For people who are not into DATA Sciences.

Eggs Welcome to Litsy 🌷 6y
AlwaysForeverReading Welcome to Litsy!!!💜💙♥️💙💜 6y
DebinHawaii Welcome to Litsy!! 🎉📚🎉Hope you enjoy it here! 6y
10 likes4 comments
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Hl1991
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Pickpick

A very interesting book with ideas to take away. Lots of anecdotes to put these in context. Something I will come back to. Finished: 31st January 2019

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Sharpeipup
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MelissaSue81 I really liked this. 6y
Sharpeipup @MelissaSue81 I think everyone should read it! 6y
Exbrarian I loved Hans Rosling‘s TED talks, so I will give this a shot. 6y
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Well-ReadNeck
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this hopeful book which I picked up because it was on Obama‘s Best Books Of 2018 list. An interesting and thought provoking read. I also appreciated the POV brought by a non-American (Swedish) author.

Itchyfeetreader I have this sitting and waiting 6y
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Well-ReadNeck
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I‘m really enjoying this non-fiction book. I picked it up because it was on Obama‘s 2018 best reads list. I‘m definitely getting my own education by reading it!

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Nikolay
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Pickpick

Excellent work! It's not only because of the interesting facts, showed by the authors... the way that they think and the way that they work is what I liked the most.

BookNerd9906 Welcome to Litsy! 🥰📚 6y
thereadingowlvina Welcome to Litsy!!! 🎉🎉🎉 6y
Nikolay :) 6y
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Lcsmcat Welcome to Litsy! I look forward to seeing future posts. 6y
sudi Welcome to Litsy 🙋😊 6y
MemoirsForMe Welcome to Litsy! 👋🏻📚📚 6y
the.bookish.valkyrie Welcome to Litsy!🎉📚💕 6y
CoffeeNBooks Welcome to Litsy! 📚 6y
DebinHawaii Welcome to Litsy!! 🎉📚🎉Hope you enjoy it here! 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 🤗📚 6y
Smrloomis Welcome! 🥳 6y
tammysue Welcome to Litsy! 6y
AlwaysForeverReading Welcome to Litsy!!! 📖📚 6y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Welcome to Litsy 📖💙 6y
RaimeyGallant Welcome! 6y
47 likes16 comments
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Lauren_reading
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Pickpick

The perfect book to end 2018 on! Optimistic and realistic look at facts and data. The world is not that bad. There‘s things to improve and things that are bad, but overall things are better than ever before. #nonfiction

julesG A friend just recommended this to me. 6y
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