Facebook’s founder is testifying before US legislators but it is doubtful the real questions will be asked or answered: do most people have an inherent problem with facts? Should Facebook, the world’s largest social network, be obligated to actively promote “factfulness” along with conversation?
These are timely questions. Factfulness is the title of the late Swedish global health professor Hans Rosling's book on the undisputed but relatively little known realities of our world and the fact that most people don't pay much heed to the facts. Instead, they make wrongful assumptions and argue in that vein.
The book, coincidentally published just the week before Mark Zuckerberg's date with US senators and representatives, challenges the misconceptions that lead people to think and behave the way they do, banding together in adversarial us-versus-them groups.
For example, says Rosling, hardly anywhere is there recognition that “Saudi Arabian society has made amazing progress” long before the current phase of social and economic reform. But child deaths per 1,000 in Saudi Arabia had dropped from 242 to 35 in 33 years, he points out, adding: “That’s way faster than Sweden. We took 77 years to achieve the same improvement.”
Rosling addresses the prevailing tendency in the West to think the majority of people in the rest of the world are starving, with offspring who either die at birth or survive miserably unschooled and unvaccinated. In actuality, “the vast majority of people are spread out in the middle…with the same range of standards of living as people had in western Europe and North America in the 1950s”.
Add to that the documented truth that 88 per cent of the world’s children are vaccinated against disease and that deaths of 4.2 million babies last year are down from 14.4 million in 1950 and it’s clear factfulness can dispel corrosive negativity.
Rosling lists 10 human instincts that distort people's perspective, including those that veer towards negativity, fear and blame. Perhaps one of the strongest and most divisive is the gap instinct. Rosling says it "deliberately creates gaps or differences between groups of people. It makes us imagine division where there is just a smooth range, difference where there is convergence, and conflict where there is agreement.
"It is the first instinct on our list because it’s so common and distorts the data so fundamentally. If you look at the news or click on a lobby group’s website this evening, you will probably notice stories about conflict between two groups, or phrases like ‘the increasing gap’.”
Indeed, we see the gap instinct playing out constantly on Facebook, albeit in a changing key. Does this mean Facebook is no more than a globally connected digital simulacrum of the real world with what Rosling calls "its massive ignorance…persistent, widespread…systematic"? Is this what Mr Zuckerberg meant when he recently admitted to Vox's Ezra Klein that Facebook's problem was that "folks are saying stuff that may be wrong, but they mean it, they think they're speaking their truth and do you really want to shut them down for doing that?"
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Read more from Rashmee Roshan Lall:
The story of Alfred Nobel should sound a warning for Zuckerberg and his legacy
Both East and West are tilting towards strongmen rulers
The Florida shooting was just one more on a list already too long and bloody
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If so, what is to be done? Surely the gap instinct is too powerful – and too human a failing – to be easily overcome? As Rosling points out: “Human beings have a strong dramatic instinct towards binary thinking, a basic urge to divide things into two distinct groups, with nothing but an empty gap in between. We love to dichotomise. Good versus bad. Heroes versus villains. My country versus the rest.”
Ahead of Mr Zuckerberg’s testimony to the US Senate commerce and judiciary committees and the house energy and commerce committee, there were indications some legislators were starting to understand the scale of the problem. Republican senator John Neely Kennedy said his “biggest worry” was the problems were “too big for Facebook to fix and that’s the frightening part”. And John Thune, also a Republican senator, said he was interested in Mr Zuckerberg’s “vision for the responsibility Facebook plans to take for what happens on its platform, how it will protect users’ data and how it intends to proactively stop harmful conduct.”
But can Facebook really “stop harmful conduct”? Can Mr Zuckerberg come up with clever code that ends divisive social media exchanges?
He has to. For we need factfulness – relentless, constant, systematic, persistent and widespread factfulness. In a world where more than three billion people are now using the internet, according to the United Nations agency that oversees international communication, it is no longer enough to dole out the facts in schools, universities, through newspapers of record and government reports. Most people, young and old, will have access to disparate and insistent online voices speaking, as Mr Zuckerberg called it, "their truth".
In that case, what is needed is factfulness, which is the truth, statistically verifiable, unquestionably accurate and available everywhere.
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%3A
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Envision%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKarthik%20Mahadevan%20and%20Karthik%20Kannan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20The%20Netherlands%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Technology%2FAssistive%20Technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%241.5%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2020%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204impact%2C%20ABN%20Amro%2C%20Impact%20Ventures%20and%20group%20of%20angels%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
How to help or find other cats to adopt
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3
Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)
Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)
Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)
Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Credit Score explained
What is a credit score?
In the UAE your credit score is a number generated by the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which represents your credit worthiness – in other words, your risk of defaulting on any debt repayments. In this country, the number is between 300 and 900. A low score indicates a higher risk of default, while a high score indicates you are a lower risk.
Why is it important?
Financial institutions will use it to decide whether or not you are a credit risk. Those with better scores may also receive preferential interest rates or terms on products such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.
How is it calculated?
The AECB collects information on your payment behaviour from banks as well as utilitiy and telecoms providers.
How can I improve my score?
By paying your bills on time and not missing any repayments, particularly your loan, credit card and mortgage payments. It is also wise to limit the number of credit card and loan applications you make and to reduce your outstanding balances.
How do I know if my score is low or high?
By checking it. Visit one of AECB’s Customer Happiness Centres with an original and valid Emirates ID, passport copy and valid email address. Liv. customers can also access the score directly from the banking app.
How much does it cost?
A credit report costs Dh100 while a report with the score included costs Dh150. Those only wanting the credit score pay Dh60. VAT is payable on top.
