The World Is Getting Better
In this edition of Generally Educated we take a break from our regular non-fiction and historical stories and take up the rare, but hopefully insightful opinion piece.
Two Perspectives on the World
There are two common ways we can look at the world, one can have a negative or positive outlook of it. Many will say the world is terrible after hearing that 11% of the world’s population (as of 2015) is undernourished¹ and while other will say the world is great after hearing that 12 in Thailand were saved from a flooding cave². In reality, both of these show a common but unintelligent way of evaluating the world at large. In this essay, which was inspired by my reading of Factfulness by Hans Rosling³, I address why a positive outlook, fueled by statistics not blindness, is the best and only realistic way of looking at the world in its current state.
First, let’s look at that statistic mentioned earlier, 11% of the world’s population (as of 2015) is undernourished. It’s a scary statistic to look at, who could say that it’s a good thing? In reality, it’s a fantastic thing. Why? Context is king. In 1970 that number was 28%, therefore over those 45 years that number has decreased over 125%. But, can any amount of deaths be said to be a good thing? I think the development of our vocabulary is necessary to describe this change more accurately. A better way to describe this development, to improve our ability to understand the world in a less black and white way, is to say it’s “Bad, but getting better”. Another example is adult (15 years or older) literacy rates, from 10% in 1800 to 86% in 2016 worldwide⁴, this would be a “Good, that’s getting better”. I would give examples of “Good, but getting worst” and “Bad, that’s getting worst” but it is difficult to find any long-term examples. If that doesn’t make to stop thinking the world is terrible, read on. The only examples of these are short term, the 2014 Ebola outbreak for about 3 months was bad and getting worst, only for it to both reverse the trend and for new cases to be brought down to zero in only one and a half more year⁵. For us to have an accurate understanding of the world, we must look at long term trends, not scary lone numbers.
Media and You
Media is a contributing factor to our misunderstanding of the state of the world. Consider that an incredibly large portion of world events don’t make it to the newsroom. Also consider that news inherently has to be unusual to be newsworthy, or that news networks have been more eager to choose stories that promote their political agenda. This isn’t to say that Media is bad or getting worst, it’s an important part of any republic or democracy. The share of humanity living in the umbrella term of democracy has risen from 1% in 1816 to 56% in 2015⁶, by definition the increase of the rate of democracy leads to more non-state-controlled news networks which give free citizen more viewpoints to understand the world. The good news is more people have access to free news networks and more importantly: news networks from other countries. An American in the 1970s had access to Libyan news (via translation), which would have given them a better understanding of the communist revolution taking place. This has only improved with the rise of the internet and higher rates of people knowing second languages.
Peace in Our Time
Thanks to the creation of the U.N. the world has been able to accurately measure, predict and publish worldwide statistics like deaths from drowning, countries with smallpox cases and the number of nuclear warheads. In addition, it’s created an unbiased court system which can settle issues between the largest of nations. The U.N.’s peacekeeping force has done a fantastic job at reducing deaths in wars by small states (Yugoslavia, Sudan, ISIS) and a mediocre job at reducing deaths in wars by large states (America, Russia, China)⁷. This is an incredible improvement compared to the status quo of the pass, with all-out war plaguing our world history. Additionally, consider that more and more young men in the world are realizing that peace in our time is in their hands, as the rate of anti-war pacifism and conscientious objectors are on the rise worldwide. In general, the more countries around the world become economically and diplomatically dependent on each other, the less war is likely to happen.
Statistics Will Set You Free
A statistically based understanding of the world, as opposed to a blind one, can lead us to understand that the world is good and getting better. If we make the conscientious effort, we can understand that our world is not as grim as we think and we will happily carry the burden of trying to improve it. A positive outlook, fueled by logic, not blindness, is superior to an outlook of negativity.
Image Attribution
“The Roslings’ Factfulness is an ace book” by psd is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Works Cited
1 Roser, Max, and Hannah Ritchie. “Hunger and Undernourishment.” Our World in Data, University of Oxford & Global Change Data Lab, 8 Oct. 2013, www.ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment.
2 Kaewjinda, Kaweewit. “‘Everyone Is Safe’ after Daring Rescue of 13 in Thai Cave.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 11 July 2018, www.apnews.com/53079f4253d94034ab683a347d3acb5c.
3 Rosling, Hans, et al. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong about the World — and Why Things Are Better than You Think. Flatiron Books, 2018.
4 Roser, Max, and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina. “Literacy.” Our World in Data, University of Oxford & Global Change Data Lab, 13 Aug. 2016, www.ourworldindata.org/literacy.
5 “2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa Epidemic Curves” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/history/2014-2016-outbreak/cumulative-cases-graphs.html.
6 Roser, Max. “Democracy.” Our World in Data, University of Oxford & Global Change Data Lab, 15 Mar. 2013, www.ourworldindata.org/democracy.
7 “Are United Nations’ Peacekeepers Missions Effective?” Norwich University Online, Norwich University Online, www.norwich.edu/academic-programs/masters/diplomacy/resources/infographics/are-un-peacekeeping-missions-effective.
