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2020 FWCD Summer Reading: Faculty

About the 2020 Faculty Book

FWCD has a long tradition of encouraging summer reading throughout our community. Typically, as a faculty, we choose from a variety of books that address a common theme. Our goal this year was to support The Civility Project, a community effort to intentionally instruct students of all ages on how to engage in civil discourse. 
 
Several books were considered, but ultimately Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling was chosen as the book to begin our discussion. Published in 2017, Factfulness presents a different perspective about the world than we commonly see portrayed through media and news sources. Filled with facts and figures, Rosling invites us to look at our world view through a different lens.  Reading a book that challenges us will certainly create discussion and debate; a perfect springboard into how we respectfully dialogue with each other. All 2020-21 faculty and professional staff are asked to read this book before we return to school on August 13. 

 

From the publisher ~ When asked simple questions about global trends - why the world's population is increasing; how many young women go to school; how many of us live in poverty - we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.

In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and a man who can make data sing, Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens, and reveals the ten instincts that distort our perspective.

It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most.

Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world.