Apocalypse? No
New Zealand Listener|April 6-11, 2024
Data scientist Hannah Ritchie takes a mostly untravelled path between climate scepticism and climate doomerism.
Apocalypse? No

Swedish public health doctor Hans Rosling liked to survey attendees at international conferences on their basic understanding of health, development and poverty: How many children lived in absolute poverty? What percentage of girls in developing nations went to school? What percentage of the world's one-year-olds were vaccinated against measles? And how have these numbers changed in recent decades?

He found their responses were less accurate than random guesses - "Beaten by the chimps," as he put it - and they were always wrong in a pessimistic direction. They thought the world was a worse place than it was. Their perceptions were often subject to a host of cognitive biases and/or based on old statistics, outdated theories and obsolete predictions. They hadn't refreshed their models of reality, Rosling complained, and if they didn't know the world was moving in the right directions, they might support misguided policies that stopped or reversed those positive trends.

Rosling died in 2017 but he has many disciples -including Hannah Ritchie, a data scientist at Oxford University and deputy editor of Our World in Data (a website you were probably addicted to during the early stages of the Covid pandemic when its cheerful visualisations depicting viral transmission numbers and per capita death rates swept through social media).

Esta historia es de la edición April 6-11, 2024 de New Zealand Listener.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición April 6-11, 2024 de New Zealand Listener.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE NEW ZEALAND LISTENERVer todo
First-world problem
New Zealand Listener

First-world problem

Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Applying intelligence to AI
New Zealand Listener

Applying intelligence to AI

I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.

time-read
2 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Nazism rears its head
New Zealand Listener

Nazism rears its head

Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.

time-read
2 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Staying ahead of the game
New Zealand Listener

Staying ahead of the game

Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Grasping the nettle
New Zealand Listener

Grasping the nettle

Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Hangry? Eat breakfast
New Zealand Listener

Hangry? Eat breakfast

People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Chemical reaction
New Zealand Listener

Chemical reaction

Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Me and my guitar
New Zealand Listener

Me and my guitar

Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.

time-read
2 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
Time is on my side
New Zealand Listener

Time is on my side

Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?

time-read
7 minutos  |
September 9, 2024
The kids are not alright
New Zealand Listener

The kids are not alright

Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 9, 2024