Hans Rosling conducted an experiment where he put together five pairs of countries where one of the two options had twice the mortality rate of the other. Students at the Institute, as well as faculty, did worse than chimpanzees in trying to determine which country in the pair had the higher mortality rate. This goes to show that preconceived ideas alter our conception of reality to the point where guesswork, which is represented by chimpanzees in this experiment, yielded better results than a person’s supposedly educated inference.
Social change occurred in Asia prior to economic change. In the case of Vietnam, people decided to have smaller families. This societal change then led to the economic surge of Vietnam, which goes to show that change does not have to come from an economic surplus, and that the change in people’s behavior and preferences is strong enough to power economic change.
Hans Rosling concluded that there is a strong linearity between child survival and money. The wealthier the country is, the lower child mortality rates are.
Hans Rosling concluded that there is no more gap between the rich and the poor. There is a hump in the data that indicates the division between the poor and the rich, however it is considerably smaller than what it used to be in the 1960s. Asia used to live in poverty, but overtime was able to come out of that state, and the world population became more centered in terms of income distribution.
Hans Rosling was able to use high spatial and temporal resolutions to further explain his idea of one geographic area having a very diverse composition. By being able to see single countries, like in the case of Africa, one is able to understand that the wealth situation, or some other factor, of one African country can be entirely different than that of another African country, which supports his previously mentioned comment of the flaws of preconceived ideas. Grouping countries together causes the reality to be modified in a way that allows for generalizations and preconceived ideas to arise.
Development typically stems from education. The Gapminder project helps provide people with a connection to public data that previously seemed to be hidden. By providing free public access and creating graphics-enabling software, the Gapminder contributes to educating humanity.