The population will reach 10 billion, Hans Rosling can prove it with cardboard boxes

Like many people I am a fan of Hans Rosling’s Ted talks. He seems to bring data alive in a way that very few people can. He also tackles very important topics and utilises complex data to create his engaging and easy to understand presentations.

In this Ted talk (please click here and watch the video) Rosling leaves no doubt in the minds of the audience that unless there is a nuclear war or some similar catastrophe the global population will reach 10 billion. The way he illustrates it with cardboard boxes is even more powerful than his gapminder statistics, and leaves no room for the audience to wriggle round the conclusion.

For market researchers there is a useful lesson in how to present complex information.

For the word are some very big messages:

1. The world needs to plan for the resources necessary to cater to the needs of 10 billion people.
2. The industrialists and capitalists need to find ways of ensuring they don’t choke or poison the planet when 10 billion people are buying their goods and services.
3. The greens need to work out how there is going to be enough money/resources to ensure that the 10 billion have sufficient access to health care and education to ensure that the population does not grow beyond 10 billion.