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Congratulations Class of 2018, you did it, reach for the stars, blah blah blah, great job! As you prepare yourself for the real world, Bill Gates, mega-billionaire, mega-philanthropist, and mega-nerd (If you’re just learning who Bill Gates is from this post, drop what you’re doing and repeat college) has a special gift for you. But, If you’re like me, and instantly became a math guru to calculate how much ~ $93 Billion divided by 4.5 Million (number of college graduates) is in anticipation of Bill Gates’ “gift,” assuming of course that he was giving away all his money, you’d be sorry to find out Bill is not giving you roughly $20,666 dollars. Instead, Bill Gates is giving away something priceless, knowledge. For real though, it’s priceless as in it literally has no price.
Congratulations are now in order again, because you, Class of 2018, will be the proud new owners of Factfullness, by Hans Rosling. You’re probably thinking, “Just what I need, another cheap present from my rich friend, *feigns excitement*” Pucker up buttercup, this book is worth your while.
No, it does not contain the secret formula to amassing a Bill Gates-like fortune, but it does include optimism in a time of almost certain uncertainty. Specifically, “Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think.” Hans Rosling was a Swedish Physician who is probably best well-known for giving the TED talk below and several others. In the TED talk, he visualizes life expectancy with regards to income and talks about the impending fear of overpopulation. He also seeks to understand how we can lift impoverished countries out of poverty so every country in the world can be considered “developed.” Hans Rosling was trying to save the world but sadly passed away last year.
Fortunately, Rosling’s book embodies his legacy and Bill Gates is putting his seal of approval on it. According to Forbes, the 5 most important lessons in the book are:
1. Earth isn’t as hopeless as we are lead to believe
2. “Us Vs. Them” mentality is human nature
3. Worrying about everything all at once prevents us from focusing in on the most pressing matters
4. Sometimes we think things are getting better when in reality they’re getting much worse.
5. “Fear rules” influence our media consumption.
In a video from his YouTube channel, Gates is calling the book, “One of the most educational books I’ve ever read. It covers a space that it’s not easy to learn about. The world would be better if literally millions of people read the book.”
I’m sure you’re convinced by now that reading Factfullness is a good idea, so here’s how you can do that.
1. You can get the book by clicking right here <—-
2. Scroll half-way down the page and enter your college/university and email into the designated area and click “download.”
3. Read the Book.
4. That’s it.
Truth be told, I haven’t even graduated college yet, and I was able to get myself a copy. Security is very loose on his website – so take that Bill Gates – thanks for the book though!
