The Best Stats You've Ever Seen

About a decade ago, I undertook the responsibility of educating Swedish undergraduate students in global development. This venture followed roughly 20 years of collaborating with African institutions to study hunger on the continent. Naturally, I was expected to possess a comprehensive understanding of the world. My journey began at the Karolinska Institute, where I initiated an undergraduate course named "global health."

However, when faced with the prospect of teaching students who had earned the highest grades in the Swedish college system, doubt crept in. I wondered if they already knew everything I intended to impart. To assess their knowledge, I conducted a pretest, and one question provided significant insights. It involved identifying the country with the highest child mortality among five pairs. Turkey, Poland, Russia, Pakistan, and South Africa were juxtaposed, with one country in each pair having double the child mortality of the other.

The results revealed a narrow confidence interval and a satisfactory 1.8 correct answers out of five. This success prompted the establishment of a professorship in international health and my global health course. However, a revelation struck me one late night as I compiled the report. I had inadvertently demonstrated that Swedish top students statistically knew less about the world than chimpanzees. Even with a random chance, chimpanzees could score half right, while the students fell short. The issue wasn't ignorance but rather preconceived notions.

In a less ethical study, I compared professors at the Karolinska Institute, responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize in medicine, to chimpanzees. Astonishingly, they were on par. This realization underscored the urgency of effective communication about global data. Subsequently, we developed software to visually represent world statistics, portraying each country as a bubble with size corresponding to its population.

The representation showcased demographic factors like fertility rate and life expectancy, challenging students' preconceived notions. Notably, the global landscape had transformed significantly since 1962. Countries once categorized as industrialized or developing had shifted, defying stereotypes. Notable examples included China's progress, Vietnam's trajectory during the war, and the changing income distribution worldwide.

A deeper exploration revealed the complexities within regions and countries. Africa, often homogenized, exhibited vast differences in child survival rates, income distribution, and development trajectories. The conventional concept of "developing countries" was challenged, emphasizing the need for context-specific interventions.

The presentation delved into income distribution, debunking myths about a rich-poor divide. It highlighted the Middle East's diversity, disparities within Latin America, and the evolving economic landscapes of East Asia and Eastern Europe. The overarching message was that data, when properly harnessed, could reshape perceptions and guide more effective policymaking.

Despite the wealth of publicly funded data available, accessibility and usability remained challenges. Existing platforms were often cumbersome and lacked searchability. The speaker advocated for a new approach, envisioning a world where databases could be easily accessed, searched, and translated into dynamic graphics for better comprehension.

Drawing parallels with the increasing number of Internet users worldwide, the speaker envisioned a future where data accessibility would similarly surge. The idea of a $100 computer was highlighted as a potential game-changer, democratizing access to information. The talk concluded with a call to liberate and make searchable the wealth of publicly funded data, fostering a more informed and interconnected global community.