36 ms·

Hans Rosling: Debunking 3rd world myths with the best stats you've ever seen

95 points by jamiequint 18y ago

shadytrees 18y ago
He's using Trendalyzer, software he developed that Google later acquired. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trendalyzer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trendalyzer
- dustineichler 18y ago
  i thought that looked familiar, yes it's still in the lobby at google. The onset of AIDS and the hope of the Internet discuss is a dramatic swing and makes his talk equally evocative.
kqr2 18y ago
Also, more information at the website: http://www.gapminder.org/ http://www.gapminder.org/
jgfoot 18y ago
Play along yourself at http://tools.google.com/gapminder/ http://tools.google.com/gapminder/
pchristensen 18y ago
His 2007 talk was better. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_... Best. Finale. Ever.
- mixmax 18y ago
  You're absolutely right. Best. Finale. Ever.
- auntjemima 18y ago
  I liked that talk -- but I've read that infant mortality rates are a misleading indicator and I really want to know what Mr. Rosling think about the subject. The U.S. brings far more at risk kids into the world and so the statistic is deflated. Because those at risk kids are way more likely to die in the first year (instead of in the womb).
  - yummyfajitas 18y ago
    Another factor to consider is that people of african descent tend to have more low birthweight babies than other groups. Low birthweight babies die more, regardless of the medical system. African descended people are common in the US, Brazil and Caribbean, but not so much in Europe. But it isn't really a fault of the medical system or development process, just genetic/hereditary bad luck. I'd suggest the trend lines on his charts are more meaningful than individual bubbles.
    - dcurtis 18y ago
      Really? From research I have done in the past, I never noticed any discrepancy in infant mortality between African Americans and white Americans in the United States. Remember where you learned this? I'd be interested to learn more.
      - yummyfajitas 18y ago
        Newspaper article, most likely, I don't remember exactly. However, a quick google search for "low birth weight race" yields: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5127a1.htm#tab1 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5127a1.htm#tab1 Here is another quirk of the measurement system I just discovered while googling. Low birthweight rates increase with income (at least in Brazil): http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118696841/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118696841/abstrac...
    - demallien 18y ago
      " but not so much in Europe." Ummm, not so much. France at least has loads of people of African descent - I would think the percentage must be around about the same as that for the US, just by eyeballing what I see on the street in Paris, Marseille, Lille etc.
- jonnycowboy 18y ago
  "How do you get serious? You make a Powerpoint!"
nihilocrat 18y ago
These presentations just make me want to move to Sweden. The data says it's a very "good" country, and it has people like this guy living / growing up there.
- pchristensen 18y ago
  I lived there for two years, and I confirm that it's a good country. Beautiful country, nice clean cities, good people, etc. The three hours of daylight this time of year are a pain though.
  - schtog 18y ago
    Hehe, danish? You study? I live in the south(Skåne) and yes even here it is too dark. Great country society-wise, climate-wise not so much.
    - eru 18y ago
      Even down south in Germany it's dark. (Note, New York and Rome are around the latitude.)
cia_plant 18y ago
For some unexplained reason, Rosling sets GDP on a logarithmic scale. This basically normalizes the assumption that wealth is extremely unequal (i.e., follows some sort of exponential curve). Which is not to say that this isn't the natural state of things, perhaps it is, but it's misleading to adjust your graphs so that this is the baseline and then talk about the lack of an "income gap".
- thwarted 18y ago
  If it wasn't on a logarithmic scale, the axis would be so wide as to overshadow the other axises (and there are a lot of axises in those graphs). The absolute values in the range of the "income gap" may not be important when the purchasing power in each locality is taken into account. Like when he mentions the wealth of the UAE only seemed to reduce their childhood mortality rates once education and infrastructure improvements were made. It wouldn't matter if they had even more money (or if the graph was a non-logarithmic scale). His point is that narrowing the income gap isn't some silver bullet that suddenly fixes things.
alecco 18y ago
2006?

95 points by jamiequint 18y ago

He's using Trendalyzer, software he developed that Google later acquired. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trendalyzer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trendalyzer

dustineichler 18y ago
i thought that looked familiar, yes it's still in the lobby at google. The onset of AIDS and the hope of the Internet discuss is a dramatic swing and makes his talk equally evocative.

kqr2 18y ago

Also, more information at the website: http://www.gapminder.org/ http://www.gapminder.org/

jgfoot 18y ago

Play along yourself at http://tools.google.com/gapminder/ http://tools.google.com/gapminder/

pchristensen 18y ago

His 2007 talk was better. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_... Best. Finale. Ever.

mixmax 18y ago
You're absolutely right. Best. Finale. Ever.
auntjemima 18y ago
I liked that talk -- but I've read that infant mortality rates are a misleading indicator and I really want to know what Mr. Rosling think about the subject. The U.S. brings far more at risk kids into the world and so the statistic is deflated. Because those at risk kids are way more likely to die in the first year (instead of in the womb).
- yummyfajitas 18y ago
  Another factor to consider is that people of african descent tend to have more low birthweight babies than other groups. Low birthweight babies die more, regardless of the medical system. African descended people are common in the US, Brazil and Caribbean, but not so much in Europe. But it isn't really a fault of the medical system or development process, just genetic/hereditary bad luck. I'd suggest the trend lines on his charts are more meaningful than individual bubbles.
  - dcurtis 18y ago
    Really? From research I have done in the past, I never noticed any discrepancy in infant mortality between African Americans and white Americans in the United States. Remember where you learned this? I'd be interested to learn more.
    - yummyfajitas 18y ago
      Newspaper article, most likely, I don't remember exactly. However, a quick google search for "low birth weight race" yields: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5127a1.htm#tab1 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5127a1.htm#tab1 Here is another quirk of the measurement system I just discovered while googling. Low birthweight rates increase with income (at least in Brazil): http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118696841/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118696841/abstrac...
  - demallien 18y ago
    " but not so much in Europe." Ummm, not so much. France at least has loads of people of African descent - I would think the percentage must be around about the same as that for the US, just by eyeballing what I see on the street in Paris, Marseille, Lille etc.
jonnycowboy 18y ago
"How do you get serious? You make a Powerpoint!"

nihilocrat 18y ago

These presentations just make me want to move to Sweden. The data says it's a very "good" country, and it has people like this guy living / growing up there.

pchristensen 18y ago
I lived there for two years, and I confirm that it's a good country. Beautiful country, nice clean cities, good people, etc. The three hours of daylight this time of year are a pain though.
- schtog 18y ago
  Hehe, danish? You study? I live in the south(Skåne) and yes even here it is too dark. Great country society-wise, climate-wise not so much.
  - eru 18y ago
    Even down south in Germany it's dark. (Note, New York and Rome are around the latitude.)

cia_plant 18y ago

For some unexplained reason, Rosling sets GDP on a logarithmic scale. This basically normalizes the assumption that wealth is extremely unequal (i.e., follows some sort of exponential curve). Which is not to say that this isn't the natural state of things, perhaps it is, but it's misleading to adjust your graphs so that this is the baseline and then talk about the lack of an "income gap".

thwarted 18y ago
If it wasn't on a logarithmic scale, the axis would be so wide as to overshadow the other axises (and there are a lot of axises in those graphs). The absolute values in the range of the "income gap" may not be important when the purchasing power in each locality is taken into account. Like when he mentions the wealth of the UAE only seemed to reduce their childhood mortality rates once education and infrastructure improvements were made. It wouldn't matter if they had even more money (or if the graph was a non-logarithmic scale). His point is that narrowing the income gap isn't some silver bullet that suddenly fixes things.

alecco 18y ago

2006?