{"id":32616,"date":"2023-04-27T12:40:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32616"},"modified":"2023-04-27T12:44:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:44:26","slug":"glass-half-full-or-half-empty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/glass-half-full-or-half-empty\/","title":{"rendered":"Glass Half Full or Half Empty"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t describe myself as seeing the world through a full-glass lens, but I’m also not a half-empty-glass person. Even though this is comparing apples to oranges, glass half full notion compared to the ten reasons we’re wrong outlined in Factfulness<\/em>, it does represent how I tend to generalize things. But then the generalization instinct is what everyone automatically does, according to authors Hans and Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

One goal of Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World<\/em> is to shine a light on the reality of how far we\u2019ve come in the world and how many problem areas are improving. Their work is based on “numerous charts, graphs, tables and numbers, compiled from thirteen survey questions (with answers).”[2]<\/a> The survey topics were public health, environment, and population surveys.[3]<\/a> Another goal of their work was to demonstrate that humans have a negative view of the world and are often just plain wrong about how they (we) interpret the world we live in.<\/p>\n

As I read several reviews about the book, three other books that we’ve read came to mind. The first book was How to Read Numbers. <\/em>We were challenged to overcome our fear of math, question the statistics we hear from journalists and other organizations, and, more importantly, take the necessary steps to become a literate population. Tom and David Chivers argued: that we cannot have a democratic society without literacy.[4]<\/a> How can we expect to understand the charts, graphs, and other math-derived summaries about the world at large if we need help understanding the basics? It is much easier for some to think ‘the world is going to hell.” Hmm. Is that another one of my generalizations? Or it may be my negative instinct.[5]<\/a> After I study my survey results, I’ll get back to you later as to which instinct it is.<\/p>\n

The second book that Factfulness<\/em> reminded me of was Sway<\/em>. Richard L. Goerwitz writes in his review that a more profound goal of Rosling et al.’s was to “simply make us aware of these instincts, and to open us up to seeing that\u2026not all is dark and gloom.”[6]<\/a> The idea that people tend to be closed minded in regard to welcoming a new way of thinking – particularly if it requires deeper introspection – was reinforced in reading Sway<\/em>. Is the close-mindedness Goerwitz refers to in his review in the category of the unconscious\/implicit bias Dr. Argawal writes about? I don’t have a scientific answer; perhaps this is my single perspective instinct kicking in, causing me to jump to conclusions based on one thing.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

The final book that is worth mentioning is Mining for Gold. <\/em>Camacho’s book was a mighty encouragement to look for the good in people. As leaders, coaches, and parents, whatever role(s) we operate in, it is indicative to look for the good in the people and the world around us. And that’s the high-level connection I’ve made between the two books and the gift these authors have given the world.\u00a0 I wonder, would this be a straight-line instinct?[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

In summary, I traveled to Jaigaon, India, several years ago on a mission trip. If you were to Google pictures of Jaigaon, many pictures in the search results are actual images of Bhutan. The two are neighboring communities and living conditions show a stark contrast. Based on my unscientific guess, Jaigaon was a level 1, and Bhutan was a level 2.[9]<\/a> My conclusion is this, I had never seen poverty at level 1 or 2 before, and it left an indelible mark on my psyche. If anyone remembers the movie Slumdog Millionaire, it was highly accurate in its depiction of what poverty was like in India. (The movie came out several months after my trip.) The survey results used in writing Factfulness reveal that the poverty in India and elsewhere is decreasing, and children are faring better health-wise.[10]<\/a> In that case, I say, Thank God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund, Factfulness <\/em>New York: Flatiron books, 2018), 146.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Goerwitz III, Richard L. 2019. \u201cReview of Factfulness: Ten Reasons We\u2019re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling R\u00f6nnlund, and Ola Rosling.\u201d Numeracy: Advancing Education in Quantitative Literacy<\/em> 12 (2): 1, doi:10.5038\/1936-4660.12.2.19.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 1.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Data Book Podcast\u00a0https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/6587RhkUIICncKWcpHX3Po<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund, Factfulness <\/em>New York: Flatiron books, 2018), 48.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Goerwitz III, Richard L. 2019. \u201cReview of Factfulness: Ten Reasons We\u2019re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling R\u00f6nnlund, and Ola Rosling.\u201d Numeracy: Advancing Education in Quantitative Literacy<\/em> 12 (2): 3, doi:10.5038\/1936-4660.12.2.19.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund, Factfulness <\/em>New York: Flatiron books, 2018), 186.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 93.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid., 34-35.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid., 53-64.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t describe myself as seeing the world through a full-glass lens, but I’m also not a half-empty-glass person. Even though this is comparing apples to oranges, glass half full notion compared to the ten reasons we’re wrong outlined in Factfulness, it does represent how I tend to generalize things. But then the generalization instinct […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2309],"tags":[2727,2276],"class_list":["post-32616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership","tag-rosling-dlgp01","tag-factfulness","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32616"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32618,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32616\/revisions\/32618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}