Spur of the Moment Guide to FACTFULNESS: WEEK 24

p. 132 –136

In yet another size instinct example there’s room for pause on a different issue, perception. On pages 132-133 the author talks about two murders, one barely getting a mention in the media and another being widely reported. A woman killed by her partner, something that apparently happens often, and a man killed by a bear, which apparently is pretty rare. The bear incident got more media coverage.

The takeaway, as presented in the book, is that—despite what the media might have us think—caring about domestic violence instead of bears could save a lot more lives. The room for pause lies in the fact that something that happens often is at risk of being disregarded, not just by the media, but by everyone. It’s like immunotherapy for allergies, you get exposed to the allergen often and your body can tolerate it better over time. That’s good for allergies, but becoming insensitive to violence, human rights violations? How about systematic discrimination?

Stoicism would argue going through those tough situations would make you better able to handle anything difficult that comes your way in the future. But history has shown that becoming accustomed to violence and human rights violations leads to trouble and when it comes to systematic discrimination there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that it does not make those exposed to it stronger; instead, it creates problems both to the individual and to society.

So while FACTFULNESS would want you to stop and compare the numbers to be able to have a more accurate picture of a specific issue to make better decisions, there’s another issue to consider. What can be done about the tendency to accept as normal something that happens often?

No good answer to that question, but the solution to the size instinct is revealed on pages 134-136 and it’s the 80/20 rule. Briefly, it suggests looking out for the largest numbers and looking more into that.

The Spur of the Moment Guide to FACTFULNESS is a series of posts of first thoughts while reading the book FACTFULNESS by Hans Rosling (this is an affiliate link).

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