TED Community » Hans Rosling

More About Me

I'm passionate about

My Wife and our World!

An idea worth spreading

Facts are better than myths, especially for understanding the world!

Talk to me about

How to make facts about the world pass the eye and reach the brain!

People don't know that I'm good at

Doing things I do not know miuch about!

My TED Story

In 2006 June convinced me to talk , Chris guided me ay and Jason spread my message on the Internet. This swaped my life as professor from the lecture hall to Youtube. Look for "sex money health" on Google webserach and you will where TED can bring Swedish Public Health.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +178.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Hi Brad,
  I could not agree more. www.nationmaster.com is a very good site that has done a great job to bring data to the many!
  Every one that have really hand washed their laundry for a long time understand my mother and grandmother.
• +4

  A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: In which way is plastic storage and micro wave harmful. I have never heard that. Which study have you read?
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: 1. It is good for the world, because the world mainly consist of people with growing incomes in Asia. People in US are presently borrowing money in China for consumption, they will soon have to stop doing that. NO country can expect to have a consumption level that eventually can not be shared by all. I can not imagine how such a world will work. So US has to integrate them self into the world.
  2. YES. the richest countries have not even started to be serious about investments in new green tech. It is deeply embarrassing for the democratic high income countries that China is more serious in investment in new green tech. This must change in US and Europe. Drill baby drill and Nuke baby Nuke is not enough any longer, let us get serious!
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Not at all! the number of births in the world stopped growing since 1990, and the number of children have stopped growing since 2005. The additional 2 billions to be added will be adults and old people above 60 like myself. What we need is better education in demography and better innovations in green technology. Agriculture is a challenge but there are many possibilities. At present subsidies in the richest countries must be replaced by a wise global food policy. If Malthus had been right both you and me would be dead!
• +4

  A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Hi Carlos,
  Some may even use the time to invent the breakthrough in solar energy!
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Hi Vaibhav,
  Good idea, but remember that washing machines can also be made smart. Metal can be recirculated, water use minimized, detergents mild to the environment and the electricity delivered grom green production.

• A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Hi Adam,
  Yes I think the probability is high that poverty will be gone or vary rare in 50 to 75 years from now. And the reason is very simple, I can not imagine a modern world with remaining poverty. Reason being that a poor country like Congo, well they have resources but they are not adequately used at present, have a very fast population growth. At independence in 1960 Conga had 15 million people and is not projected to have 150 millions around 2050. If poverty is not gone by then the population will continue to grow and that is bye bye to the gorillas. So everyone that want to preserve gorillas should start helping the Congolese people end poverty.
• +2

  A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Hi John,
  It is a metaphor, but a metaphor with substance. My grandfather and father were industrial workers and washing their cloths was hard job as it was to wash children cloths before the disposable napkins arrived. I have really asked my audience over the last years, many thousands of people and they all, ALL, use washing machine, so it is really a very good metaphor for all the good things we got from the industrial revolution. I have a simple mind. A thing that 100 % use much be a great benefit in peoples life.
• +3

  A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Hi Salim,
  If you would add some hours of hand-washing each week, what would you stop doing?
  I know, if I had not loaded the washing machine three times during the weekend I would not be writing on this TED conversation.

• A reply on Conversation: What are your thoughts and questions on "the magic washing machine"?

  Mar 21 2011: Lucy,
  You are right, dams comes at a big costs for those that lived in the valley, and they must be rightly compensated. Dams not built also come at a big cost to those that will miss the electricity in the coming decades. That electricity is capable of doing so much good to the millions of poor households in that part of the Indian sub continent so it will probably be better for the humans to build the dam. The alternative for the coming decades is probably one more nuclear power station, but that will have many long term costs and risks. So do you know of any alternative that can produce the same amount of electricity per dollar invested. India does not have that many dollars so they must really look at the cost effectiveness in producing electricity.