Latest Posts by aftermath-machine1984 - Page 7

one of the most beautiful things Alan Menken has ever composed to date. 

Let’s not forget Hans Rosling

Not that I think we will. But it’s something I feel the need to say out loud to ensure myself of it.

Woke up this morning to finding out that Swedish statistician, public speaker, doctor and academic Hans Rosling had died. It hit me harder than I thought it would, the more I thought about it.

Of course, my thoughts go out to his family and friends first and foremost. But I just had to take a few moments to think of how many things he made me think differently of and how I still refer to him to this day.

You might not recognize the name, but perhaps you’ve seen his videos?

Hans Rosling was a professor of international health. He took his knowledge and created incredible computer programs and graphics because what he wanted was to educate, and he realized that one of the best ways of educating was through visual entertainment. He was incredibly pedagogic. He knew how to teach. 

This was a man who spoke about global health, global warming, economy, development, immigration and world population and he constantly kept his positive outlook on the world and truly believed that we could become better.

(He was also involved in starting the Swedish branch of MSF.)

Somehow, it feels like an extra huge tragedy to lose someone who was so dedicated to fact-based science and the importance of educating right now of all times. No, people never die at the right time. But for me, it felt like his death highlighted why we have to keep speaking up, why we have to keep being more vigilant than ever when it comes to our sources and to guard science and statistics so that they don’t become twisted by political agendas. 

As he said himself, when talking about Sweden’s own populist right-wing party: “We must not let the Swedish Democrats get monopoly on the truth, it is very dangerous to do so.” And I think that rings true for a lot of people today.

He was an amazing man. He made numbers and statistics fun for many, you know? With his somewhat broken english and colorful dots he made people enjoy it. And even though he was talking about world hunger or poverty he truly made people believe that we are on our way to a better world. 

So if you haven’t, I’d really recommend to check some of his stuff out. We need to ensure what he dedicated so much of his life to lives on, because it is so important right now. 

TED Talks: The best Hans Rosling talks you’ve ever seen - In memory of a great man and the numbers he loved.

Population growth and climate change explained by Hans Rosling in under four minutes

In Honor of Hans Rosling, Watch Some of his Best Videos (with article)

Or just about any video with him you can find on youtube.

Thanks for reading.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

Today we remember the more than 11 million people, Jewish and Gentile, who were slaughtered in the death camps, who succumbed to disease and the elements in concentration camps, who were sterilized to prevent the “dilution” of the “Aryan race,” who were worked to death, or nearly, in the works camps, who were imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs, who were sterilized or killed for being considered disabled, who were gassed to death in the Einsatzgruppen mobile gas chambers, who were shot into graves they had been forced the dig, and those who managed to survive all of that and were forced to remember the horrors they had seen and experienced.

May they rest in peace, may their memory be a blessing, may peace be upon them, and may we all say Never Again.