1. What was Hans Rosling’s observation regarding his comparative survey of students at the Karolinska Institute and the Chimpanzees (as well as the faculty who decide the Nobel Prize)? What is the significance of the results from his informal survey on preconceived ideas?

When he first started in the medical university, Karolinska Institute, he thought the students already knew everything he was going to teach them about so he gave them a pretest. He began by asking them, “Which country has the highest child mortality of these five pairs?” There were only about 1.8 correct answers out of 5 possible and he even stated that chimpanzees would actually score half right (2.5 out of 5), which is more than his students. Rosling argues that the problem was not ignorance, but preconceived ideas, which is significant because it allows us to share our thoughts on biased opinions that we might have. He also tested the Swedish professors and their results were similar to those of the chimpanzees, about 2.4 out of 5. Lastly, he asked his students what they really think about the world and they said the world is still “we” and “them”. “We” meaning the western world, a long life and small family, and “them” meaning the third world, short life and large family.

2. What type of change took place in Asia that preceded economic growth? Why was this type of change significant?

Many changes took place in Asia that significantly impacted their economy. Specifically, in China since 1962, their health has improved drastically. Mao Zedong began by bringing health to China which is why they climbed up the graph so rapidly. Deng Xiaoping proceeded to bring money to China, which helped improve their economic growth. As Rosling states, “you can move much faster if you’re wealthy first than healthy first.” The speed of development is very different for each country and as we see in China, this change was significant because it helped the population break out of poverty and enter into a stable economy. Additionally, in 1962, countries were split into two: industrialized countries, known to have small families and live long lives and developing countries, known to have large families and live short lives. Since then, larger families have transitioned into smaller families, impacting economic growth.

3. In accordance with Hans Rosling’s TED talk, what is the relationship between child mortality and GDP per capita?

According to Hans Rosling’s TED talk, the linearity (straight line) is very strong between child survival and money. Based on the GDP per capita and child mortality graph, the data is turned into regional data of gross domestic product and in conclusion, increases both the rate of child survival and GDP per capita, thus having a strong linear relationship.

4. In terms of income distribution, how has the world changed from 1962 until 2003?

There had been many changes in terms of income distribution from 1962 until 2003. China’s economy has been increasing ever since Deng Xiaoping brought money to the country. The United Arab Emirates, which came from a mineral country, caught all of the oil and increased their income distribution, although their health was still poor. They needed to invest in health, provide schooling for children, train health staff, and educate the population for the country to be both financially stable and healthy. Sheikh Zayed did many of these goods (in spite of falling oil prices, he brought the country up again). South Korea was making a very fast advancement, whereas Brazil was much slower. Countries were moving more or less at the same rate as money and health, and many of those countries tended to use their money in a more beneficial way than in the past. On the other hand, Uganda today is where South Korea was in 1960 and if Uganda splits, then there’s a difference within the country. The richest 20% quintiles of Uganda were up on the graph, whereas the poorest were on the bottom. Additionally, if we compare Niger to South Africa, Niger had a terrible famine, therefore the 20% poorest of Niger was out of the graph, and the 20% richest of South Africa was inside the graph up top. Rosling argues that we “can’t discuss universal access to HIV treatment for one rich quintile with the same strategy as for another impoverished quintile.”

5. What is the significance of how Hans Rosling uses data to describe global human development in terms of very high spatial and temporal resolutions? How does this relate to his previous observation regarding preconceived ideas?

Rosling makes the point that it is dangerous to use average data, as there are many differences within countries. He also mentions how we are always discussing what solutions there should be in countries within Africa, however; everything in the world already exists in Africa and we should start targeting specific areas in need of actual aid instead of the entire country/continent as a whole. The improvement of the world must be highly contextualized, meaning that we must be much more detailed.

6. In your opinion, why was Hans Rosling’s work with the Gapminder project significant in contributing towards advancing the intersection of data science and global human development?

I believe that Rosling’s work with the Gapminder project was significant because it’s a nonprofit venture that links data to design, such as liberating UN data and UN organizations. We need data in order to advance in our global economy and human development; however, nowadays, this information is hidden in databases and company’s put prices, passwords, or boring statistics on them, only to prevent us from accessing them. Rosling strongly argues that we need a “search function where we can copy the data up to a searchable format and get it out into the world”, making them “free and searchable within a click to get into the graphic formats where we can understand them immediately.” Scientists make it impossible for the public to access certain data because they believe that we won’t fully understand the reality and that in order to fully comprehend, we need statistical and analytical methods.