Hans Rosling’s Animated Statistics of Human Progress
9.9 million YouTube views as of 10/8/21
A Simple Definition of Statistics:
“The practice of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities, especially for the purpose of inferring proportions or outcomes in a whole from those in a representative sample”
Rosling’s Two Main Statistical Methods for his Presentation:
1) Descriptive Statistics, summarizing data from samples of national health and wealth over 200 years
2) Inferential Statistics, which project from his data the future progress of health and wealth of the world
Three Ancestors of Rosling’s Use of Statistics
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The Nuova Cronica, a 14th-century history of Florence by the Florentine banker and official Giovanni Villani, includes much statistical information on population, ordinances, commerce and trade, education, and religious facilities and has been described as the first introduction of statistics as a positive element in history.
In 1786 William Playfair (1759-1823) introduced the idea of graphical representation into statistics. He invented the line chart, bar chart and histogram. This was followed in 1795 by his invention of the pie chart and circle chart which he used to display the evolution of England's imports and exports.
Karl Pearson (1857-1936) went on to found the discipline of mathematical statistics. He emphasized the statistical foundation of scientific laws. His work grew to encompass the fields of biology, epidemiology, anthropometry, medicine and social history.
Rosling’s Purpose in Creating 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes: the Joy of Stats:
“Having the data is not enough. I have to show it in ways people both enjoy and understand.”
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Though Rosling presents an enthusiastic demonstration of the rise of progress over 200 years, he also points out that at times natural and human-made disasters impede the upward movement. War, famine, disease, economic depression and other “catastrophies” ensure that the rise of progress is at times is not without setbacks:
In spite of improvements brought about by Western technology through the Industrial Revolution, national disparities in the health and wealth increase dramatically:
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But in recent years, all nations are improving in their creation and control of health and wealth:
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Rosling’s four conditions for continuing Progress:
Aid, Trade, Green Technology and Peace
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Rosling’s Concluding Belief in the Progress of Health and Wealth for Humanity
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Rosling’s hope and faith continue the belief in progress as outlined in J.B. Bury’s The Idea of Progress and embodied in the international industrial expositions held in Europe and the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In all cases, the moral justification for Progress was the belief that “the greatest good for the greatest number” was and will be the justification of applied technology for mutual assistance.
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