Over-dramatic Worldview: We are partially wrong about the world.

* Many lines used in this blog are excerpts from an amazing book. It isn't plagiarism. It is a tribute.

Let me ask you a question before we start.

1) What do you think is the change during the last 20 years, in the number of people living in extreme poverty in the last decade? 

1. More or less, no change.
2. It is almost halved.
3. It almost doubled.

2) What percent of the population, according to you, live in poverty?

1. 9%
2. 61%
3. 45%
4. 32%

Remember your answer.

Let's get to the issue.

The hype of the occurrence of the third world war made it clear regarding the prevalence of the vast number of pessimistic people around me. They believe, with all their heart, that the world has degraded, and is on the verge of destruction. The culmination of Australian bush fires, the talk of third world war, acted as a way of assurance for their thoughts. You might think I am crazy, but all this is false. True, at the same time, if WW3 occurs, but it might not be a possibility, not just now, forever. The world has witnessed a lot of fascinating developments in the last decades, a couple of centuries.

Yes, nature hasn't been kind enough upon us in the past decades. Yes, there are few new fatal viruses spreading across the globe. Yes, climate change is real, and it's happening at a fast pace. But, no, it is not going to end. And the simple reason is that we won't let it. If the same scenario of WW3 hype was prevalent some 20 years back, it would have happened. But at the moment, we are too scared of the common enemies - Climate change, Spread of Pandemic diseases, Poverty; we cannot afford a war amongst ourselves. Sounds like Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, right? Yes, right now, it's time to fight together.

Even with the plethora of nuclear weapons readily available at the hands of every country, none has the need, dare to use them. As they say, "Si Vis Pacem Parabellum": "If you want peace, prepare for war," we now have to fight against all the odds, united, to be a peaceful planet.

So, the answers to the above questions are 

   (1)- 2

   (2)- 1

Did you answer correctly? No? How do you feel? 

If you got it wrong, don't worry; evidently, only 9% of the total population gets them right. That is including all intellectual scientists, politicians, activists, journalists. Don't you think for such an intellectual race, we are too ignorant of the facts about us? Yes. We are.

Based on the UN statistics, a team of three, Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Ronnlund, has developed numerous bubble charts, and this is what they had to say. 

"Just as we can get an opinion regarding a restaurant basing on the number of people eating there, we can understand the levels of most basic needs based on the Infant Mortality Rate."

"Infant Mortality Rate is like a thermometer that measures the heat of all the conditions in an area."

Babies are fragile. Only if people had better access to basic medical care, they would get vaccines done to their kids. If they don't have proper mineral water, food supply, the kids won't survive and become a fact in some research. And to your astonishment, every country in the world, whether they are middle-income or high-income, whether they are developing or undeveloped, are witnessing a steady, sharp decrease in this rate.kids are getting clean air, water, vaccines and are surviving. 

Be it the number of girls completing their schooling, the percentage of the world getting access to electricity, the numbers are surging up.

Despite being positive, an interesting fact, people tend to ignore this and believe that the world is getting worse every day, every year in every possible way. This is what the three called an "Overdramatic Worldview" based on our inherent dramatic instincts.

Surely there are many bad, devastating, fatal disasters that are prevalent and are expected to happen, but still, there are numerous good things that matter and are worth celebrating. Even though once upon a time, when people believed that the world is getting worse, they used to work on making it better, they used to strive for this, but now, God knows why people are too pessimistic. Maybe because of the urgent 'Now or Never' feelings created, it leads to either stress or apathy. People think that they cannot do anything, or worse, firmly believe that doing something won't even matter because it's already over and feel like they have lost the war. This attitude will surely not help and might deteriorate the condition.

"I don't tell you not to worry. I tell you to worry about the right things".

We have faced not one, but two world wars, a plethora of viruses, plagues, diseases which left everyone hopeless, but we did come back. We made the world better than it was during, and even before these wars. Humans have the ability to make it better. Be it the fact that the area of trees has increased a lot in the last decade or the other facts I have given above, prove this very point.

Don't think that doing a tiny good deed would go wasted. Don't think that we are incapable of changing anything. Don't lose hope.

For more information on all the things we get wrong about the world, refer to this amazing book, 'Factfulness - Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World- And Why Things Are Better Than You Think.' 

You can also go to https://www.gapminder.org/.