Things R Better
short URL: https://is.gd/ThingsRbetter
Fall 2022: Concord and Manchester in person
Spring 2022; Virtual with OLLI GSC April 9/16; Fall 2021: virtual with OLLI UConn Sept 13/20; OLLI
Things are better than you think --- thanks to Hans Rosling
Tired of Pandemics, Politics, Propaganda, Personalized Ads, and anything starting with "P"? There is another, and actually more accurate way to view the world ... it's not the "sliver lining" it is the "silver center".
We will view various TED videos by Hans, at least review his book "Factfullness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World -- and Why Things Are Better than You Think." Han's message is not just the data/fact based reality that things have and are improving, but we have built in resistance to recognizing the improvements. Hopefully we will all come away, not just feeling better about the world, but recognizing how to avoid or mitigate the "joy suckers" that make us feel worse.
Syllabus
Week 1
Pre-test
How not to be ignorant about the world - TED Video
Global Population Growth (2010)
Week 2
The Dollar Street Project -- TED Video (2017)
The Magic Washing Machine (2010)
Resources:
Hans Rosling
Founded an NGO to help us track the human condition based on real data: Gap Minder
The Gap Minder Test -- just 12 simple questions
TED video "play list" -- the Best Hans Rosling You've ever seen
for our class
How Not to be Ignorant about the World (2014) 19 min
Global Population Growth, Box by Box, (2010) 10 Min
The Magic Washing Machine, (2010) 10 Min
Other Rosling Videos, but not viewed in class
Let my Data set Change Your Mind (2009) 20 Min (at US State Dept)
New Insights on Poverty (2007) 19 Min
Best Stats you've ever seen (2006) 20 Min
Dollar Street Project -- TED description, and Online Database (2017) 12 min
The Book: "Factfullness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World -- and Why Things Are Better than You Think." (2017)
Related reading: “The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again” ;
by Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett
Disney - Carousel of Progress -- full video presentation (22 min)
Media Bias Chart (Venessa Otero) now at https://www.adfontesmedia.com/