Factfulness

One of the most powerful and misleading instincts I've identified is The Gap Instinct. This is our irresistible tendency to divide all kinds of things into two distinct and often conflicting groups, with an imagined chasm—a gap—in between. The most common example is the idea of 'the developed' and 'the developing' world. This mental model is decades out of date. It creates a picture of a world split between the rich and the poor, with very few people in the middle. But the data tells a completely different story.

The reality is that most of the world's population now lives in middle-income countries. The two-humped 'camel' world you imagine has become a one-hump 'dromedary' world. To fight the Gap Instinct, you must look for the majority. Beware of comparisons of averages, as they can hide the spread of the data and conceal the fact that there is no real gap. Instead, I propose a four-level income framework that provides a much more accurate and nuanced picture of global life. By abandoning the simple, dramatic, and false dichotomy of 'us' and 'them', you can begin to see the world as it truly is: a continuum of gradual, overlapping progress.