Ted Talks

This video was not 28 minutes...it felt like 5! Professor Rosling's lecture was so educational while being completely entertaining at the same time. I would first like to comment on his amazing ability to utilize computer animation to demonstrate trends in data. Secondly, aside from the obvious humor apparent in his comparison between the intelligence of Swedish students and chimpanzees, Rosling makes a notable observation. He blames this inadequacy not on ignorance, but on preconceived ideas. Each student, and everyone else for that matter, has certain experiences that lead them to believe things to be true. These preconceived beliefs influence one's so-called "educated" answer to the questions being dealt. Such is the case in the real world; educated persons impose their biases on an unknown subject. By bringing in previous outside knowledge, one can often be lead to formulating the wrong answer, which emphasizes the need for more education. Although, I do believe that, "Knowledge is power," I must point out that this inevitably leads to an endless cycle between education and biased opinions.
Rosling's demonstration on the strong linearity between countries' wealth (in dollars) and health (in rate of child survival) was right in line with the neverending discussion in our public health classes. We're constantly reintroduced to the idea the correlation between wealth or SES and health status. It was interesting to see however, how the linearity strengthens over time and also how it's spread across each country as well. Thus, health improvement must be highly contextualized.

"It's impossible, but we can't do it!" ...Enough said...

Link to video: http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=hans_rosling&flashEnabled=1