A Healthier, Wealthier World
Diane Ellis, Ed. ·
Jan 5, 2011 at 2:18pm
Pretty darned cool, don't you think?
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
I love this piece. Thank for posting it Lady Di. For those who are interested, Mr. Rosling has several other videos with similar trajectories and data presentation at ted.com. Highly recommended.
Jul '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Brilliant. Though his reference to "green technologies" puts me off.
Jun '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
There is only one thing wrong with the healthy/wealthy corner, and that is the implication that health and wealth occur at the same time. They don't. First a nation must get "wealthy" before it can get "healthy." This observation might be seen by some as pedantic given the strong positive correlation between health and wealth, but the point is not subtle by any means, because a person, and collectively a nation, get the health the person and the nation PAY for. So the next time some liberal comes crying to you about greedy capitalists, remind him that if it weren't for those same "greedy" capitalists the creep would likely be dead.
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Very cool, reminds me of Indur Goklany who spoke at Dartmouth this fall.
Jul '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Hans Rosling is the man. Everyone ought to waste 20 minutes or so doodling around his website, Gapminder, which allows you to play with all sorts of different data sets in the same fashion as he does on the video clip above. It's always good to run into an item of media that is so positive about the world (and has the data to back that positivity up!), like this.
Although I disagree with much of what Steven Pinker has to say, his TED talk about how the world has become a radically more peaceful place over time is a similar pleasure.
Sep '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Ahem.
Not. So. Fast. Everyone.
This problem perhaps never occurred to the technicians (although it should have), and I suspect that Rosling had no idea that all those windows and lamps with glaring lights would show up in the finished video. Attention to these details, however, makes the difference between fun and engaging data visualizations that tell stories effectively and those that feature novelty and entertainment over substance.
Aug '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
I believe Bjorn Lomborg, aka the Sceptical Environmentalist, has argued that history shows that humanity is progressing and can overcome challenges such as climate change ( the existence of which he acknowledges) through ingenuity and innovation and the sensible use of resources rather than by radical and outrageously expensive measures.When one thinks of the myriad catastrophes that have occurred in the last 200 years,the statistical evidence of widespread human advancement over the same period is reassuring.Of course some hubristic Romans might have thought the same 2000 years ago!
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Pseudodionysius: Ahem.
Not. So. Fast. Everyone.
Meh...I didn't find the background a distraction. Didn't even notice it, actually.
May '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Meh. I see that trend as a historical anomaly and I don't think it can be projected forward. It would be nice and surprising if it did. That growth from the industrial revolution will be hard to sustain.
Nov '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Cool as interstellar space, thanks for sharing!
Jun '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
Pseudodionysius: Ahem.
Not. So. Fast. Everyone.
This problem perhaps never occurred to the technicians (although it should have), and I suspect that Rosling had no idea that all those windows and lamps with glaring lights would show up in the finished video. Attention to these details, however, makes the difference between fun and engaging data visualizations that tell stories effectively and those that feature novelty and entertainment over substance. · Jan 5 at 5:38pm
I found the background to be a problem from the start. The presentation could have been so much better with sharper contrast. Other than that, it was an appealing way to present statistics. But does any of what he said truly matter at all?
Jun '10
Re: A Healthier, Wealthier World
The graph also illustrates what political culture can do to the health and wealth of a nation. You will notice how China takes a sudden dip during Mao's cultural revolution. Also, there's one bubble, I'm assuming Argentina, that tracks with the west through about 1900 then suddenly makes a dip and doesn't recover much. Argentina went from the world's 11th most wealthy in 1900 to mid-level status today.