The history of 200 countries over 200 years in just four minutes

3 comments

1. 1
   

   Jeff Hess

   December 1, 2010 at 7:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment

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   Shalom Mano,

   The video is marvelously well done, but I disagree with Hans Rosling’s conclusion that the trend will pull the world towards wealth and health. We live in a closed system and the more we move to the upper right the more we tax that system. In the absence of restraint collapse is inevitable.

   B’shalom,

   Jeff

2. 2
   

   Tim

   December 1, 2010 at 9:12 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment

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   Fascinating video, Mano. I’m not sure I agree with his conclusions, but it was technically interesting to watch. Let’s hope more educators more in this direction. Thanks for posting.

3. 3
   

   Paul Jarc

   December 1, 2010 at 3:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment

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   Jeff: although there are physical limits, wealth is not limited by the quantity of material. It can increase by creating a more desirable arrangement of a fixed amount of material; a microprocessor is worth more than a lump of raw silicon. Creating wealth requires energy, though, so the rate of increase of (whole-world, not per-capita) wealth will eventually be limited by our energy input from the sun. Of course, this guarantees nothing about how quickly the trailing edge will follow the leading edge—the gap between rich and poor may not depend much on the total amount of wealth.

   Increasing longevity is also energy-bound, and it will strain the food supply, but it could be balanced by reducing the population (which would also increase per-capita wealth).