A little help from our friends: Our World in Data

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Global progress Other Resources Social Dynamics

Short introductions to resources we find useful

This article is part of a series which features ideas from other people that inform our thinking and inspire us. We hope you will find them interesting.

We are descended from people who got out of the way of the cave bear

We human beings are good at seeing immediate physical danger. And bad news of almost any kind gets our attention. We are not so good at seeing slow gradual change, whether positive or negative. We prefer specific stories about individuals, rather than more abstract discussions of, for example, global trends.

Most of our news sources reflect what we consistently choose to pay attention to, leading to the phrase “if it bleeds, it leads.” This is dangerous because we miss both the good and the bad news that is literally critical to our survival.

Our World in Data’s goal is “to make the knowledge on the big problems accessible and understandable.” This nonprofit organization’s website is full of engaging charts and thoughtful descriptions. I can spend hours going from topic to topic.

You can use their charts and graphs in your own materials without cost; the only requirement is that you cite the source using the creative commons license CC BY.

The most important thing we think Our World in Data offers: Good news about global progress

Because we rarely see reports that we are making significant progress on the challenges we are facing globally, many of us feel it is impossible to make a positive difference. So we don’t try. We may feel helpless, depressed, and maybe even angry in the face of global complexity. Not a good way to live our lives.

In fact, there are many areas, carefully documented by Our World in Data, where human beings are making meaningful progress.

I urge you to brighten your day by taking a moment to read this inspiring article—The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it—by Professor Max Roser, founder and executive co-director of Our World in Data. He lists these six categories where collectively we have made significant progress and provides some specifics in each area:

poverty
literacy
health (including child mortality)
freedom
global population
education

Multiple perspectives in time: Seeing a more complete picture

Roser also provides an illuminating look at how a single issue—depending on the question we ask and our understanding of history and future possibilities—can be an example that invites despair, provides a sense of progress, or suggests room for improvement. He uses global child mortality to demonstrate how looking at all three gives us a much more useful perspective.

Before exploring the full site and looking up areas that particularly interest you I recommend you look at this article, The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better.

How are we (collectively) doing?

I would like to point out one more feature of the Our World in Data approach that is very important. They track back to update the status on a consistent set of issues. We need this guidance system.

Determined to attract interest, much of our news media embodies its name and features newness designed to attract our attention. This is interesting but often literally diverts us from understanding our situation.

All living systems, including societies, need feedback on their actions. Hypoesthesia is the term loss of sensation in a part of your body. If you can’t feel that the stove is hot, you don’t pull your hand away and you get burned. Often.

Our World in Data helps us prevent human global hypoesthesia.

Stepping up

If you are inspired to take action on an issue you see in Our World in Data, journalism professor Carol Fletcher explains in this case study, how the Allison Group’s course in Social Dynamics helped her to “unpack the accelerating pace of change” and understand that she could step up to contribute to the future.

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References

Max Roser (2016) – “The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions’ [Online Resource]

Max Roser (2022) – “The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better.” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/much-better-awful-can-be-better’ [Online Resource]

Bio

Mary Ann Allison, MBA, PhD, professor emerita, uses sociology, complex systems theory, media studies, and evolutionary patterns to study social change. Her approach combines skinned knees (real business experience ranging from Citigroup VP to directing an Internet start-up and leading a consulting company) and rigorous scientific theory. Her model of Social Dynamics provides practical tools for consciously adapting to the future.