If you believe otherwise…

 

You may have lost the ability to focus on the things that really threaten us.

 

Further, you may be making terrible decisions…

 

And have UNNECESSARY STRESS.

 

What?

 

Why?

Because we suffer from:

 

AN OVERDRAMATIC WORLDVIEW.

 

This is according to the author of

 

Factfulness: 10 Reasons Why We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

 

Hans Rosling was a Swedish medical doctor and international health researcher.

 

He would ask audiences simple questions about global trends.

 

Almost everyone got almost every question wrong.

 

It did not matter if the audiences were made up of teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.

 

No matter how intelligent, they still got the answers so wrong that chimpanzees did better on his quizzes.

 

He actually did that. Asked chimps.

 

The chimps, picking coded bananas, got more answers right than some of the most intelligent (and influential) policy makers in the world.

 

What that told Rosling is that policy makers were and are creating policies based on absolutely wrong information!!!

 

The solution?

 

Get a realistic, undramatic view of the world.

 

Thus reducing stress and enjoying life more in a world that is quite wonderful.

 

Hard to believe that the world is “quite wonderful?”

 

and not “going to h*ll in a handbasket?”

 

Rosling’s son and daughter-in-law are co-authors of the book.

 

They define “Factfulness” as the stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts.

 

From the website:

 

“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.

 

Factfulness offers a radical new explanation of why this happens.

 

It reveals 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. (my bolding)

 

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 a new thinking habit that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to challenges 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.”

 

https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness-book/

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Said about the book:

 

“A genuine antidote to negativity and hopelessness…”       – Nature

 

“Authors who describe the remarkable decline of poverty, hunger and disease in the developing world anticipate such incredulity that they often flaunt the word “great” in their titles, such as Nobel laureate Angus Deaton’s The Great Escape and Steven Radelet’s The Great Surge. More modestly, Charles Kenny tells us how the world is Getting Better. As does Factfulness by the late TED star Hans Rosling, who liked to quiz his audiences on trends in wellbeing and show that they did worse than chimpanzees.”

– Steven Pinker in The Guardian

 

“This is honestly one of the most eye-opening, opinion changing books I have ever read. Especially in today’s political climate, everything feels like the worst case scenario and it can be hard to know what to do without losing hope. Factfulness gives real, data-based information about how we use information and how to do that better. It is frank and it is real and I have never felt so empowered in my life. The tips and explanations in here are so useable and so relatable and so simple, I can start using them right now and I feel like I’ll have need to use them forever. Seriously, this feels right now like a must read book. ”

– Christine, Goodreads”

 

https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness-book/

 

 

In Joy and Love

 

Matti Anttila PLD (Professional Laughter Dude)

Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher

Head Honcho at EasyStressRelease.com

Author of The Zen of Joy

 

“Joy and Love are key to overcoming our inner turmoil as well as the challenges and chaos present in the world.”

 

Free resource: “108 Tips for More Joy, Energy and Health.”   Click here:  https://joyenergyandhealth.com

Do your own research. Do not trust mine.

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PO Box 21144 Duncan RPO, Duncan Village, BC, Canada. V9L0C2

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Disclaimer: Please make your own decisions about everything. That includes investment, taxation, health and/or any other area. Seek professional assistance before attempting any of the ideas, tools and/or techniques discussed herein.

 

Any and all information provided here is not a substitute for the advice of a licensed medical practitioner. Individuals are advised not to self-medicate in the presence of significant illness. Always consult with your licensed medical practitioner first before undertaking anything…be it supplements, exercise programs or other protocols. The information herein is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Do not construe the information provided here as authoritative health advice…or authoritative advice of any sort. All information provided or referred-to is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be health, medical, financial, accounting or tax advice, nor should it be relied upon as such. Matti Anttila is not a licensed financial planner, doctor or health practitioner. If you’re not inclined to Do-It-Yourself then please, before you Do-It-To-Yourself, obtain professional advice.