42 thoughts on “‘Factfulness’ and the Freshman Convocation Lecture”

1. In the freshman convocation lecture, we listened to Sister Mullan speak on many key points on the book Factfulness by Hons Rosling. Sister Mullan’s three key points that were related to the book was Historical Context, Fact and Reasons and Factfulness in practice. One of the main topics of the lecture, along with Factfulness is the instinct that humans have an instinct were we wrongly divide the world into two completely opposite income levels. Sister Mullan referenced a picture of a pair of feet in nice shoes, clean, and with a pedicure and a pair of feet with no shoes, dirty, and beaten up. Each of these pairs of feet were to represent the levels that humans think people are separated by. However, Rosling’s book suggests that there are four income levels which stressed upon in Sister Mullan’s speech they are: Level 1 where 1 billion people are at, making $1-2 per day; Level 2 where 3 billion people lie, making $4-8 per day; Level 3 where 2 billion people are, making $8-32 per day; finally Level 4 where 1 billion people are, making $32 per day. Those income levels are a more accurate way that we should represent the world today. Sister Mullan shows us that there are more people going out of poverty, more girls getting into schools, and the world is becoming more aware of the issues that we NEED to actually worry about; for example, climate change. All of the topics represented in Sister Mullan’s speech and Hans Rosling’s Factfulness relate to the FRST 1002 class because they topics relate to the ongoing world issues and ways to critically think about the issues that are worked on in the courses. Critical Thinking is a new mindset being learned to all students and will help students become more logical and reasonable thinkers in the world we live in today. Young adults today are presented with a lot of information that must be critically thought about and not just jumping to dramatic conclusions. In conclusion, the event was eye opening to see how the world is actually changing and what can be done to make the world a better place. The freshman convocation lecture was truly great event.

2. The speaker is from Ireland, her motivation for traveling and going to other colleges is that she wanted to see the world so it can open her mind. She is against war because she witnessed a young solider die right out-front of her house, this was an important message because it proves no flag is worth dying over and leaving your family grieving.
   The first part of the speech is about historical contact. The speaker starts by saying the amount of hostility to science is dangerous because this is going to prevent us as a society from moving forward. We need to let people get as much education as possible because if people are well educated then we can prevent mistakes and setbacks. Another point the speaker makes is about binary thinking. She says most people think this way because we as a society don’t like to hear stuff that we think is wrong, even if new information corrects the old stuff people still refuse to believe it. This is bad because it stops us from critically thinking. During the video with Bill Gates, he talks about how Rolsing divides the economic levels into 4 groups. Bill Gates breaks down what Rosling is saying by stating that the world is getting better because people are moving up through the levels. It might take a few generations but things are still getting better. This is conflicting with the thoughts of many who believe the world is only getting worse.
   Things are better than we think. The speaker mentions that most people in the world don’t live on level one or 4, they live mostly in the middle. She says that life in the middle isn’t that bad but people want to continue moving up. People on level one live in extreme poverty but they can get out if they get lucky and have a good grow season. There are always ways to improve in every level if someone has enough drive to want something better then what they already have. The speaker says that since we are at Stockton, we are mostly level 4 but we struggle to keep a good budget.
   The speaker says that education is important. In Sudan they are very poor so people have a hard time getting a good education. She believes that if you don’t get a good education then nothing good can come out of your life. People came together and donated money so children in Sudan can go to school and receive scholarships. This helps them escape level one. This wouldn’t have happened if people don’t come together and help less fortune people out. The speaker is a firm believer of education for girls. In order to make a society move up in the economic ladder, first you must give all citizens a fair chance at education.
   In conclusion after hearing this speech, I’ve learned that we must be open as a society to continue moving forward. We can’t be scared of different ideas even though they may conflict with our own values. I’ve also learned the importance of a good education. Education is good for your self but it is very important for a society to be educated because one-person can’t make as big as a difference then if everybody is critical thinking.

3. Today I attended the Freshman Convocation and overall, it was a really good experience. I was very happy I got to attend such a wonderful talk about the book Factfulness. Something that she said that really stuck with me and opened my eyes was that people all around the world are anxious to improve their lifestyles. It just makes me wonder. Because people are so quick to complain but I never see any action to getting the problem solved. So when she said that people are trying to improve their lifestyles, it took me by surprise. Because to what extent are they trying to improve their lives? Something I liked that she brought up was the 4 levels of income. Sister Mullan broke down each level to where it made me understand the concept a little more better. The gap instinct was my favorite chapter in the whole entire book especially the income levels. Something I like that she did was use different pictures and videos to go along with her presentation, it gave students an image of what she was elaborating on. Just like the shoes and feet. The way the world sees the gap between income is just poor and rich there is no in between. That is why Sister Mullan made sure to elaborate more on the different types of levels, just so students can get a better understanding of where most of the world really stands. The way the lecture and the book Factfulness relates to FST 1002 is all the information that Sister Mullan gave and what Rosling had to offer in his book both of them want students and readers to THINK. That’s right, all they want is for students to think critically about the information that is given so we can grow up to know the truth and look at things in different perspectives without bias opinions. FST 1002 is a critical thinking class that breaks down the book Factfulness and many other articles and looks at the information from students different points of views.

4. The speech given by Sister Mullan did leave me with some useful information. It was nice to hear there was somebody who truly cares about the community. But, majority of her lecture was about her life and what her colleagues do for a living. I felt as though she did exactly what Rosling wanted readers not to do. Throughout the lecture she focused on the poor girls in Africa, and she wanted to teach us to be thankful for what we have. But the book was not about being thankful for what we have. The book was not about the women in Africa, it’s about the world. Her lecture made it seem as though Africa is the only place with starving children, and hard-working women. It would have been okay if she just mentioned it, but instead she focused on it. It would have been nice if she just elaborated on what Rosling was saying in the book.

5. In the freshman lecture, we listened to Hans Rosling’s sister, Mullan speak. She spoke on many key points on the book Factfulness by Her brother Hans. Mullan’s made clear she had 3 main points. Historical context so we understand the reasoning behind things and the way they are, Fact and Reasoning. If you don’t know the context of the conflict or problem there isn’t a true understanding of the problem. You need to know the facts so that you are well educated on the topics and know what you are talking about. And you must have a reasoning and evidence on why the solution is the solution. One main topic she really elaborated on at the lecture was the “gap instinct” which is the instinct that humans have, which divides the world into two complete opposite income levels. Rich or poor and no in between. The Sister starts by saying the amount of hostility to science is dangerous because this is going to prevent us as a society from moving forward. We need to educate people as much as we can so the society can be aware and prevent mistakes and setbacks. She is a firm believer of education and that education is the key to success and I wouldn’t disagree with her. Another example the lecturer spoke on was the misconception of the world and income levels. The speaker mentions that most people in the world don’t live on level one or four they live mostly in the middle. With everyone thinking that you are either broke or wealthy with no in between, puts a lot of misconceptions in the world that makes the world look and feel more split than it is.

6. Today I attended the Freshman Convocation Lecture about the book Factfulness. Overall it was good, but I expected more from it. She shared about her experience as a child and growing up, which was good to know her background. But, once she started talking about the book it was just the same thing Rosling wrote in his book. Yes, it was informative, but I was expecting a deeper meaning on the book from her perspective, and from other things going on around the world as well. It felt as though she talked about class a lot rather than the book itself, if that makes sense.

7. The book Facfullness has taught me why things are better than we think. People that are level 4 are who spend 32 dollars a day, people who are sitting in this lecture are level 4. It takes generations to go from level 1 to level 4. My grandparents started off at level one when they moved here from Italy when they were only 18 years old with no jobs or money. Two interesting things I have learned from this event was that the presenter came to this country two weeks before 9/11 to work. “The world is extraordinary better than it was 50-100 years ago even though there are very worrying signs” in today’s world and society.

8. Today is the day I attended my freshman convocation and it was a very good and interesting experience. Our speaker Sister Mullan delivered a great speech about our summer reading book, “Factfulness.” Mullan went in depth with Hans Rosling’s ideas and why we were wrong about the world. The part that stuck with me the most is the four levels of income and getting a visual of the poor living conditions seen in levels one to three. Sister Mullan also went on to talk about the negativity instinct which was also very interesting. Another point she made was connected through the book and the instincts was one based on the incomes, that most people do not know that most people live in income levels two and three, rather than four. In the beginning of the lecture she talked about and showed that we tend to divide things in two, you’re either poor or rich, which is simply not the case. For this she compared a very poor individual’s shoes, or the lack of them, with a wealthy girl’s shoes that look like they’re for a wedding. This is a common view throughout the world with people who live in level four but is far from the truth. Sister Mullan discussed that the world is getting better and even the poorest countries are better now than they were in the 1950s. These are all points that Hans Rosling made in his book about all the different instincts that people have and did an amazing job of summarizing it and visually showing the audience. All in all it was a great experience and I’m happy to have gone. Sister Mullan gave an amazing speech and I had an amazing time listening and watching all of what she had to offer.

9. The Freshman Convocation was an enlightening lecture on Sister Dierdre Mullan’s viewpoint of why Factfulness was such an educational book. She talked about how critical thinking skills are essential when reading about the world outside New Jersey. Sister Dierdre Mullan’s way split her lecture up into three sections covering the book. The first part was History Context, referencing the gap instinct quite a lot through her examples. Such as, she touched on the matter of people splitting the world into two sides, the simple and intuitive. Rosling’s first instinct is the gap instinct and possibly the strongest. The second part was Facts and Reasons on why the world is better than you think, in this section, she connected with the book. She said, “ The book invited you to think differently about how to view the world around you.” Sister Dierdre Mullan mentioned that the book expanded beyond binary thinking and made you use critical thinking skills. For the last part, Factfulness in practice with three stories covering the “grassroots,” she went about the four levels of income. Sister Dierdre Mullan said, “Income is the single biggest factor determining the quality of life.”
   The main thing that I thought was interesting was when she mentioned that everyone watching the lecture was on level four and sometimes people who live on level four can’t see what they are looking for when looking upon lower levels. People tend to get wrapped up in doing their own thing that they don’t even see/think about others living on level 1 getting 1-2 dollars a day.
   Most of what she mentioned was relevant to the discussions we have in class regarding global issues. Sister Dierdre Mullan, being a part of the Mercy Girl Effect, has her involved with other regions of the world and getting them assistance. The last three things she mentioned were the Eradication of extreme poverty, Girl Education, and climate change. Three takeaways from the lecture, and to be more aware of the world around you.

10. One thing that stood out to me was when Sister Mullan told us about her experience with what happened to her mother and when she realized she wanted to know more about the world itself. I thought it was interesting that she told us about the people who live in level 1 conditions since she saw it for herself. Her speech was quite interesting, she touched on the book Factfulness throughout her speech. Sister Mullan made many good points on the gap instinct, she made many connections on what we have been talking about in our Critical thinking class. Sister Mullan stated that Factfulness is a historical context, she touched upon that Rosling has a chart in his book that shows 1 billion people make between 1 and 3 dollars a day in level 1, the second column in the chart shows 3 billion make 4 to 8 dollars a day in level 2, the third column shows 2 billion people on level 3 make between 8 to 32 dollars a day, and finally the fourth column shows 1 billion people in level 4 makeover $32 a day. Sister Mullan made a valid point that all of us who attended the lecture are in level 4 because we have over 12 years of education and most people on level 4 have over 12 years of education and not 1 car but multiple cars. I enjoyed Sister Mullan’s speech I found it very helpful to fully understand Factfulness and being able to hear her opinion also helped and intrigued me.

11. In today’s Freshman Convocation, Sister Mullan spoke about a lot of wonderful things, but there were a couple things that stood out to me. What I got out of the lecture was that we don’t know what is going on with the world. You never hear about what happens in Cambodia or their current situations with education or just their lives in general. Another thing I got from it, was that we shouldn’t buy plastic water bottles. Water is a basic human right. Whenever you buy it, it becomes a commodity. Sister Mullan says that “we wrongly divide the world into two different income levels.” She used a picture of feet as an example. There was a picture of bare feet compared to well-cared feet. There is an in between the feet but people never see it. That is how we view the world. Sister Mullan also spoke about poverty. She said that the only way to eradicate poverty is to educate women. In the end, Sister Mullan made me realize that I really don’t know anything that’s going on and she changed my perspective on the world.

    • Today I attended the freshman convection and I am greatly pleased to have been there to listen to sister Mullan speak about important information on Hans Rosling’s famous book Factfullness. She claimed how this book helps us see the conflicts around the whole world and the aspects of critical thinking. As she read the book over the summer, she made a key point that stood out to her the most. The main point that she talked about was the gap instinct. She explained how it is an instinct that most people get wrong. Everyone believed to either be rich or poor. In her lecture, she claimed that most people today are in the middle. People do not get the concept that everyone lives in the middle. Mullan brought up the information on the 4 levels that people live in. She showed an image of the four income levels. She explained that all of us that attended the lecture fall under level 4. A great way that she was able to prove her point, was when she demonstrated the picture of two pair of feet. On the right side were feet that had no shoes and were unclean. On the left side of the picture, it showed beautiful and clean feet. With this picture, it showed the different income levels that people live in and how different each person is living their life. She claimed that many people have started from level 1 and were able to escalate to level 2 but, she also mentioned that it was very easy to fall back into level 1. She explained that a lot of people are now getting out of poverty and are getting an education. Life is not as bad as most people think. They have this misconception of the real world today. Mullan suggested that people need to notice the positive news that is going on in the world and focus on the real situations that do matter. Due to people thinking so negatively about the world is causing people to stop thinking critically. Most people refuse to hear the truth and only worry about the negative things going on in the world. Most people do not worry about climate change when in fact is one of the most topics to be concerned about. She mentioned how the world will look like for future generations.
      One of the most important topics she mentioned was on education for many kids, in particular to women. She talked about a story where many families had so many kids and were not able to maintain all the kids, so many of the moms let the girls leave at such a young age so they could maintain their family. Many of the young girls would go to work or get married so they could help out with their families. Mullan emphasized the importance of education. She explained how people in Sudan were very poor and were not getting an education. She claimed that education is the goal of life. The more knowledge and experience you have, the less naive a person will be. Many people came together and helped out these kids get an education and scholarships. She is a person who supports the education of young kids but most importantly young girls. They are kids from other countries who do not get the opportunity to study and Mullan focuses on the education of girls. She showed how she is a strong leader of education for kids. After everything she has lived through, she knows education does matter.
      Everything that she talked about in her lecture related to the class because it helps us see the importance of being a critical thinker. We must learn to be a fair-minded thinker and be able to see everyone’s point of view. This helps us understand the issues going on in the world and focus on the things that do matter. We must be aware of our surroundings and not just live in a bubble. Mullan talked about the issues that we are talking about in class. It helps students develop a better mindset. Mullan’s lecture helped understand the book better and see her point of view of the world today. The most interesting part to me was when she mentioned how passionate she is about girls education. I can definitely relate a lot to the aspects of girls not getting enough education and seeing someone talk so passionate about it inspired me to help other girls from my country get an education. I felt connected to her lecture when she knew education is the way to success in life. She truly inspired me to be a person that helps other girls. To wrap it up, this lecture by Mullan was very beneficial for me because it helped me understand the real world and what is going on today. It helped me understand the FRST 1002 class because Mullan showed the way to critically think about the world. Everything she mentioned we talked in class and I got to better understand of the book Factfullness. It was a privilege to have been there and learn more about becoming a critical thinker!

12. This evening I attended a lecture on the book Factfulness. The main speaker was Sister Dierdre Mullan, and she spoke about her viewpoints and positions on the book. One thing that stood out to me was when she talked about her mother holding a dying British soldier, and how the mother of that soldier will have to hear about her 19 year old getting killed. I found it interesting how she brought up one of her family members’ baby and how the world will have about 9 billion people living in it. Sister Mullan connected the 4 different levels of income with the book and lives around the world. She talked about how if you are at this lecture right now, then you are in level 4, and that it takes a long to go from level to level. She also talked about how many jobs people get when in the different levels, like if you are in level 2 or 3, you could have multiple jobs at once. This lecture was very good in explaining the importance of reading this book and understanding the world that we live in. It intrigued me when she brought up her personal background and connecting it with the book and explaining how things can always get better.

13. At the freshmen convocation the speech was given by sister Mullan who was born in Ireland and she moved to America 18 years ago. She came 2 weeks after 9/11 and she saw a lot of the aftermath. She told us that human beings have strong instincts toward binary thinking. A basic urge to divide things into 2 distinct groups with nothing in between but an empty gap. It invites you to think differently about how you view the world around you. Peoples income is the biggest single factor in deterring the quality of life. People are very anxious to move up the ladder but it takes time. The difference between level one and four is that at level 1 the girl child has to walk miles to get water while level 4 just having it in there house or home already. When you’re in level two you think things are getting better but one single illness can wipe out your savings and you’re back at level one. Level 3 is working multiple jobs, you’re able to save, drink water and your kids can got to school to get an education. They can graduate high school and get a job and take a small trip to the beach. Level 4 thinks that the other 4 levels dont know how to budget but, it takes several generations for a family to move from level 1 to 4. Most of the world lives in 2 or 3 with the same standard of living that people in Western Europe and North America had in the 1950s. She also told us that water is a necessity that the people in Mukuru dont get to have. Girls end up on the streets and basically gets sold into sex trafficking. Parents admit that they had to sell their kids so they have one less mouth to feed and also have money for the other kids. She ended her lecture with telling us that climate change is one of the 5 global risks we should worry about the earth so treat it well.

14. During the Freshmen Convocation, Sister Mullan highlighted many points Hans Rosling may have spoken about in his book Factfulness. She was born and raised in Ireland. She moved to america two weeks after 9/11 in 2001. She mentions 3 points of her presentation. 3 of them being Eradication of Extreme poverty, Girls Education and climate action. She explains how water is essentially a humans right and everyone should be able to have access to it. She goes back to the book and discusses the 4 levels. She gave an example of a young girl who goes out and search for water and later goes to school. The only transportation she has is her feet. Level 2 would be living off of $4. She explains with additional income you can buy water, a bike, and a gas stove. As stated in the book if you happen to fall into any illness you would go back to square 1 which would be level one. Level 3 Sister Mullan speaks on how you finally made it. You’re living on $16. You can access water with no problem. Your children can go to school and graduate high school which will give them a better opportunity to find better jobs. You can celebrate in the beach for the accomplishments they have succeeded. Level 4 would be people who spend on average $36 per day. Sister Mullan explains how people in level 4 do not understand the other levels. They may think the other 6 billion people who are in the other levels but theirs are to blame. People in level 4 think the other levels are not responsible with their money, in result to that is why they are in the circumstances they are in. Moreover, she speaks about climate actions. She tells the audience Africa is more at risk for climate change and we should treat our planet well. This presentation was overall a great experience and I was able to expand my mind alot more.

15. The speaker that spoke at the Freshman Convocation Lecture known as Sister Mullen talked about the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling. She came from a town in England that had two names Derry and Londonderry. One of the greatest lessons she learned when she was living there was when a war was happening right near her house. At the time her father told everyone to stay inside and away from the windows but her mom disobeyed her husbands wish and ran outside. Sister Mullens mother bravely went and cradled a young soldier in her arms and told her family “No flight, No calls, no ideology and no mother in England should get a call that her 19 year-old son was shot dead”. Continuing on Sister Mullen told us that what her mother said is the greatest lesson she has ever learned.
    After talking about her homeland she then proceeded to speak about how she moved to the United States two weeks after 9/11. She went on talking about how the country was in shambles and up in arms; but, it did not stop her from doing what she loved which was working. Sister Mullen saw her job as bridging the gap between perception and reality just like the book Factfulness. She broke the lecture up into three key points historical context, facts and reason about why things are better than we think, and Factfulness in practice- citing stories from the grassroots.
    The first point she makes during the historical concept section is that a lot of humans have binary thinking where us humans divide things into 2 groups with nothing in between. For example, she showed a picture of feet that we dirty/ beaten up with no shoes and then compared they to a freshly painted set of feet in sandals. Sister Mullen called this the binary thinking pattern that all humans have. This relates to two of the four levels of incomes that the world is composed of levels one, two, three, and four. Humans divide the world into good and bad, clean and dirty, rich and poor, and smart and dumb; but Rosling clearly identifies that there is something more in this world then one or the other. Level one in the book and in Sister Mullens speech is presented that there are one billion people living in that level making $1-2 per day. Level two has three billion people live making $4-8 per day. Unfortunately, any sickness that needs medication can send that family in level two back down to level one. Level three is where two billion people live and they make $8-32 per day. Finally in level 4 there are about one billion people living in this category making $32+ per day.
    Following the presentation of the four income levels she showed us the small improvements that the world is making slowly over time like more people coming out of poverty, more girls going to school, and more people taking a step back thinking and then acting to the problems our world needs to focus on. One of the world’s problems that Sister Mullen believes we need to focus on is global warming which I definitely agree on.
    All of the topics presented in today’s presentation and the relation to the book all make up a huge part of FRST 1002 class. Since they talk about ongoing issues in this world that we the younger generation need to think critically about and fix. Attending this Freshman Convocation Lecture is one of the best things that I have done while being at Stockton. She really touched a nerve at the end when she said “Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts and don’t put up with people that are reckless with yours”. This made me really think about the people in my life and if they are really supposed to be there. In conclusion, I am grateful that Sister Mullen was able to come and talk to the class of 2023 and I am looking forward to reading the responses that my classmates wrote to see what they thought.

16. Today in the Convocation Sister Mullan brought up a variety of good key points. Sister spoke about 4 different types of living levels. Basically, 1 being the lowest and 4 the highest. She also said that most of us today are on living level 4. Factfulness provides value indicts. All of us love to always compare the good vs. the bad. We tend to try to divide the world into two different sections. By doing that it is very dramatic because it comes with conflict, and we tend to do things without thinking it through. She stated how income is the biggest factor in determining people’s lives today. She would show pictures of the lowest, and basically the highest she used feet. It had meant like the different living lifestyles, and how we are placed in the middle. What was crazy, was her story about when she was young, and a young boy got shot right in her front yard. Everyone today truly doesn’t understand what is going on throughout the world. She told us a story about education and Nuba. Nuba had said that they put all their effort into education because without it nothing good will happen. War is a development issue, it kills, and consequences extend far beyond deaths in battle armed conflict leads to forced migration. She spoke about how all the increased child survival rates in the world happen because the mothers can read and write. Mullan had came into this country just two weeks before the tragic 9/11 event happened. She had discussed the world is getting better, even the poorer countries are doing better today than from about 100 years ago. It also had related to FRST 1002 class because it really makes you think critically about the world, and all the things going on.

17. In the presentation today, given by Sister Mullan, I left the presentation understanding the book better and her thoughts behind it. She told us she is from Ireland and is a nun and came to the United States two weeks after 9/11. The part that stuck with me the most is how she explained that are 4 levels of people; 1 being the lowest, spending $1 a day and 4 being the highest, spending $32 a day. She also said that all of us sitting in the lecture were a level 4 class. She also said that a good majority of people today live in between a level 1 and level 4 class. Lastly, I like how she broke down her presentation into three groups; Eradication of extreme poverty, girl’s education, and climate action. Overall, Sister Mullan wants to understand the world better rather than seeing it as two divided groups.

18. I could not attend the lecture, but in the book ‘Factfulness’ by HansRowling, rosling talks about the way that people view the world. He talks about why the population think that the world is in worse standing than it actually is in. I would have to agree with that, but mostly due to the fact that social media plays a huge role in most people’s lives. Social media tends to be the way that most people find out about big and small issues that arise. The only problem with that is that sometimes there is news that is put out there that is not true. The people who are reading the articles believe what they are reading, for good reason. The people who read these articles want to learn what is going on, and when one news article states a false claim, all the other articles spin off of that claim and it is soon in all news articles everywhere. In conclusion, people don’t need to be less gullible, the news stations need to be honest, and they need to fact check.

19. In Sister Mullan’s speech at the Freshman Convocation, she talked about many things that were talked about continuously in Factfulness. Her being there was honestly very interesting because we are fortunate enough to have someone be able to give us another outlook on the topic and be another resource. What really touched a nerve was when she was talking about how this is her passion to come out and inform students on the concept of misconceptions. She talked about being able to broaden our mindsets and education. Sister Mullan also talked about how more and more people are getting out of poverty and there are also way more girls in schools these days. She showed us a video that was all about girls and how them gaining better possibilities can change the future. This Convocation ties in with the course of the class because she mentions that more people need to use critical thinking skills in various different situations. She said that it will completely change our outlook on things. Finally she gave the example of the different views of shoes; a nice clean pair with good looking feet and the other that were filthy and their feet beaten up. This represents how people believe the levels are separated. Two dramatically different ways, with no slight in between.

20. In the freshman convocation today, I’ve learned that many people in America that live in the West, view the world as rich and poor. Many countries have made progress but war still remains a developmental issue. The speaker even witnessed a soldier die right in front of her so she is totally against it. We as citizens have the power to change things as she stated many times. She brought to our attention that Hans Rosling spoke about global change and stated that although things are getting better, climate change happens to be one of the risks that we should really be worried about as well as war and poverty. Sister Mullan elaborated fully on the different levels pertaining to the book and it actually gave me a better understanding. Sister Mullan also spoke on how America is doing alright but we need to do even better than we ever have before. For our well-being, the children, etc. 1.3 billion people on level 1 have no electricity or access to clean water or food. I was also informed that 70% of the food that we eat is produced by consumers from across the world. She introduced a topic about The Great Green Wall which is an idea that was inspired by Africans that promises to be a compelling solution to the many urgent threats not only facing the African Continent, but the global community as a whole. Overall the speaker spoke was very clever and she knew what she was talking about, especially about her strong belief in education. She informed me about things that I already knew about because of reading the book Factfullness and also of things that I didn’t know much about. I will be more attentive and more aware of my community and my own perception of the world.

21. The book, Factfulness, is one that can relate to everyone in the world, not just the United States. Coming all the way to New Jersey from her domestic country Ireland, now living in the United States, Sister Mullan spoke at Stockton’s freshman convocation for the class of 2023. She touched on a few key points that were pulled out of the text of the book Factfulness and could possible relate to some people within the audience. Sister Mullan reiterated to the audience how Hans Rosling believes that people see the world as black and white, rich or poor, or “the gap instinct”. Her presentation consisted of three main topics of or about the book Factfulness; historical context, facts and reasons, and Factfulness in practice. In the second topic, she explained the level of income and what the four levels consisted of like the pay they earn, the amount of people in each group, and a jist of what they own. The main topic that stood out to me was the last part of the presentation, Factfulness in practice. Sister Mullan took the text of the book and related it to the reality of the current world. She explained a total of three stories, yet the second story stood out to me the most. The story began with a slide that stated “Education of a Girl” and Sister Mullan went on to explain the past and current education of young girls. She explained a school that was built for young girls in Kenya that the tuition for education and room and board was a total of $50. The people who live in that section of Kenya are on level one of the levels of income so with that being said, this school is out of budget for most people. This was mind-blowing for me considering the price of colleges and universities in the United States. She also ended the presentation with a video about the girl effect and how a girl has the power to change the world. Critical thinking is when one analyzes, ecalutes, or thinks about anything, but specifically a novel or text. Sister Mullan used critical thinking by thinking outside of the text and using the real world to connect it back with the book. In class, we try to question, analyze, and look outside of the text that in front of us and Sister Mullan was a perfect example of that today during her presentation for the freshman convocation. The freshman convocation was an inspiring event because of the words spoken by Sister Mullan and the meaning behind them.

22. In today’s lecture, we learned all about what the book tactfulness actually meant. Some of the key points that sister Mullan stated was Historical Context, Fact and Reasons and Factfulness in practice. She also talked about some of the warning signs in the world which was global warming and levels 1,2,3 and 4. The book factfullness gives valuable insights and shows how the world is a better place than we think it is. It shows that 1 billion people that are living in level one only spend of have 1 to 2 dollars a day. How? By walking miles barefoot, fending for themselves in difficult times, and carrying water on the top of their heads for miles at a time, which is assigned to mostly girls. About 3 billion people live on level 2 with 4 to 8 dollars a day with the necessities of buying chickens, having sandals, able to have a bike, collect water faster, being able to have a gas stove. Life is better but uncertain. When illness comes around for people that live in level 2 you will be wiped out of money by trying to take care of yourself or your family. Only 2 billion people live on level 3 income which is 8 to 32 dollars a day which is working multiple jobs, able to save money, access to electricity, go to school, having your kids graduate highschool to get higher paying jobs, Life is much better in level three. Level four is where most people stand in New Jersey at least by having 32 dollars a day for their income. 1 billion people are on this level. They usually have 12 years of education, have been on an airplane, have a car, house, hot and cold water but they also struggle to understand the other levels that people are living in. if you are in college or went to college you are level 4 income. All of these topics that the book factfullness covers all say that the world is becoming more aware of the issues that need to be brought up to the world’s attention and need to be fixed so we can all have a better way of living and have a healthy lifestyle for yourself and your family that surrounds you. In low income countries girls are being sold so families can have more money to stay alive, but what people in low levels don’t understand is that girls are valuable and meaningful. Sister Mullen was interpreting to us in today’s lecture that people say that income is the single biggest factor in determining the quality of life. Which is totally true. 70 percent that you buy that the supermarkets is coming from small farmers around the world and people don’t notice and that advantage of what they have and what they want in their life. In this lettuce i’ve learned that you have to think about the world in the bigger perspective. Our world is a place that needs care, that needs help, and without anyone helping others, there is no “everyone is happy” people are still struggling all over the world even if you are on level 4. Critical thinking and reading has become a new “mindset” in school and in every day life. It is very important to know what is happening around us and how we can make the world a better place.

23. Today I attended the freshman convocation where we were given a lecture on the book, “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling. The speaker, Sister Mullan, began her presentation by telling the audience a few selected details of her life. She then used her past to transition into the focus of the lecture. Sister Mullan summarized and explained the significant chapters, quotes, and concepts of the book, most of which we covered in class. She did this by categorizing each into subjects, for example, “Historical Context” was the first. Throughout Sister Mullan’s lecture, specific issues, like the four income levels, were mentioned. She also mentioned how we look at the world with only having two views- good or bad, poor or rich, developed or developing. Overall, Sister Mullan’s lecture was a well-put speech. It was influential and eye-opening.

24. Today was the freshman convocation for the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling. The speaker was Sister Mullan who shared a lot of information about her background and how it was for her growing up. She also shared plenty of information about the book, but it seemed like she just did an outline of the book. It just seemed like she was introducing the book and the reasons why we should read it. Although she explained the book I was expecting her to go deeper with a different approach with meaning. I just feel like she had a big idea for how she was going to explain but she mainly touched on the topic of how girls growing up have evolved. And how it’s better now than it was before. She also explained the difference of the levels.

25. After going to the freshman convocation I understand the book factfulness much better. Sister Mullan was the person that was speaking to us and she made a lot of key points. One of the key points she made was how much people make in a day she showed us 4 levels of that and those level go like level 1 is the lowest they make $1 a day level 2 is $8 a day and there are 3 billion people in that level and level 3 makes 8-32 dollars in a day and level 4 is the highest which is $32. And she also went on saying that all the people in this lecture are level 4. Then she also said how she moved to united states 2 weeks after 9/11. After she told us about the levels she also told and about how there are not that many people in poverty. She also went on talking about climate action and girls education.

26. I attended the Freshman Convocation Lecture about the book Factfulness. Sister Mullan gave a good speech but overall she talked about her life experience and the book. Throughout the lecture, she was mainly focused on poor little girls in Africa and told us we should be grateful for the things we have. She also talked about the different aspects and the importance of the book. She shared that everyone should pay close attention to the word and fact that Rosling explains in the book. Sister Mullan was requoting the book to justify her points. She was an amazing speaker and I am glad to be part of the lecture.

27. In the freshman convocation lecture, Christine Ferry introduced Sister Dr. Mullen to speak to us about the key points discussed in the book Factfulness. During the lecture, she broke it up into three different points which were Historic Context, Facts and Reasons on why things are better than they think and Factfulness in Practice. She points out that we are seeing the world as two groups rich and poor. She talks about the four income levels which made me realize how lucky I am in the world. People’s income is the biggest factor in determining the quality of life. The four income levels are: level 1 where one billion people are making 1 to 2 dollars a day, level 2 where three billion people make 4 to 8 dollars a day, level 3 where two billion are making 8 to 32 dollars a day and finally level 4 where 1 billion people make 32 dollars per day. When she said that I realized how some people have to work just as hard to make ends meet like an example she said the girl from level 1 wanted water she had to walk to get it but the girl from level 4 was able to get it right where she was. It will take generations for families to move from level one to level four and if you have a medicine charge it can wipe out your savings. She also talked about how more and more people are getting out of poverty and that more girls are going to school for education. This lecture relates to my FRST 1002 class because it talked about how families are working and working to get to the level 4 income which is demonstrating that they have a good mindset. I am so glad that I attended this freshman convocation it was a great experience.

28. Today during the Freshman convocation, Sister Diedre Mullan further enlightened us on some of the major points in the book Factfulness, written by Hans Rosling. Mullan began by giving some background information on her life and why she was standing in front of us. She then began to cover three major points related to the book and gave some historical context. Just like in the book, Mullan explained the four levels of income in the world. Level 1 consists of one billion people that make $1-$2 a day; level 2 consists of 3 billion people that make $4-$8 a day; level 3 consists of 2 billion people that make $8-$32 a day; and level 4 consists of 1 billion people that make $32 or more a day. Just like in the book, Mullan talked about how people’s income is the biggest single factor in determining quality of life. According to Mullan, 200 years ago 85% of people lived on level 1, which has drastically changed.The world has changed for the better. She also mentions that we need to let go of our binary thinking and expand our mindset. One point that Mullan brought up that I really connected and agreed with is how buying water makes it a commodity , when it is in fact a human right. Just like this one, Mullan brought up a lot of points that made me open my eyes and look at the world differently. All of these points teach us that we need to stop and think about the world live in before we jump and make false conclusions.

29. In the freshman convocation lecture, Sister Mullan talked about many topics regarding the book Factfulness. She talked about and explained many topics and ideas in Factfulness just like as we do in class. She gave an interesting speech regarding the book and her life compares to ideas in the book. She talked about many worldwide problems. Some of the things she talked about were the amount of money some people are making in the world and how it is not fair, the poor people in Africa, poverty, and expanding the ideas in the book. She was describing her point of view about the book and the world. I thought it was very neat and interesting to see another experts opinion about the book and these topics. This lecture was very alike as in how our class goes because she broadened ideas about the book and made you really think about many things as we do in critical thinking. She said if you look at everything in life and use critical thinking in an aspect of everything you do then you will understand more and be able to broaden your ideas on everything in life. Towards the end of the lecture she gave an example of shoes, a nice clean pair and a dirt more messed up pair. This relates to poverty, how some people view things in life, and levels all throughout the world. It shows that people only see one side and they don’t always look into the details of everything, or the deep meaning of things. I thought this was a very well example to describe things because we talked about this in class. I enjoyed Sister Mullen’s point of view on the story and her opinion and I thought the lecture was very helpful because it relates to class.

30. When I attended the freshman convocation, the speaker from Ireland who is the director of the Mercy Global Concern for the UN, Sister Dierdre Mullan, did an excellent lecture about factfulness and she also spoke about the importance of education. She used the feet example; one who looked bruised and another that looked like it was taken care of. She used that as an example to explain the level 1 and level 4 in factfulness. That also lead for her to talk about how importan education is, she said that people can improve themselves and get to a higher level if they receive proper education. So one of her focuses was to improve the education and the environment of local and international places who needed it. Others tend to think that they can’t receive education but they’re wrong and can go, they tend to think that the world is getting worse but it’s actually getting better. They just have to put their mindset to a more positive thinking.

31. This was my first freshman lecture of the semester, and I feel like the presenter gave us well thought information on out book “Factfulness”. Sister Mullan ran over many of the key roles and actions explained by Hons Rosling in his book. She had brought up the fact of world poverty and the 4 “income levels” of how we live today. I like to label them as phases, and when she mentioned that we all, in this college, live in the 4th phase I was really surprised and astonished on what that truly was. This was a key point in her lecture to us and was amazing to find out how billions of people are living on this planet. The Sister was right on how money truly does run this society and it’s crazy to think that people live like this just because of a numerical value. Another point that woke me up into reality was how the way girls and women were treated and the jobs they had and do. She explained on how more girls are receiving an education and how we don’t even think about having this free education for granted. Others in the lower phases of income cant even afford sandals nonetheless a proper education. The course that I am currently taking currently (critical Thinking) is truly opening up my eyes to the world and the way that we work as people. People think every day but to critically figure out what is going on at a deeper level is an astonishing thing to be doing in this class. we , as a people together, could truly changed the world to make it better for future generations. This lecture truly opened my eyes and made me think as a person, “what am I doing to help and change this place for the better”. I enjoyed the time that the sister gave to us in explaining Rosling’s points and actions on the world and how we perceive it. This lecture was definitely an amazing experience and I am excited for more in the future.

32. In 2019’s, Stockton University’s convocation lecture, Sister Diedre Mullan starts by telling us a personal story that how a young soldier died in front of her house in Ireland. This is one of the reasons why she against wars. Sister Mullan’s three key part of the lecture was: Historical Context of Factfulness, Facts, and Reasons, and Factfulness in real life.
    In her lecture, basically she talks about the main idea of Rosling’s Factfulness, which is, the world is getting better. She tries to draw a connection between Rosling’s idea and her own life experiences. By that, she shows us the world is actually getting better. She shows us a video of Bill Gates’ perspective about Factfulness.
    In her lecture, the heart touching concept for me was girls’ education. Because I personally believe that education is the most important thing which can change a nation. She explains how women’s education is changing their life. As Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Give me an educated mother, I shall promise you the birth of a civilized, educated nation.”
    Overall it was a good lecture and I would love to attend more this kind of lecture.

33. Yesterday I attended the lecture about the book factfulness and it was alright. Personally I feel like she covered more information about her self and her community rather then Roslings main picture which is whats going on in the world. She talked a lot about her friends and there issues. She also talked a lot about being grateful for what you have and talked briefly about the children in Africa. It was crazy to hear about the war that happened right outside her house growing up in England. She overall covered a decent amount of the topics in the presentation.

34. the Freshman Convocation the speaker was Sister Mullan, she started off introducing herself and her background. She lived in the United States for almost 18 years with her family. She came to the United States 2 weeks after nine eleven and explained that American citizens was in fear. She then explain Factfulness and said she read the book for a whole summer. She explained and cited from the book that “we tend to have binary vision”. People see things in two because that’s our natural instinct. She showed us a slide show of Bill Gates comments on the book. He said “If millions of people read the book the world would be better”. Lastly she quoted “you attend this lecture your on level 4”.

35. AJ Andiorio
    Professor Gust
    26 September 2019

    The Freshmen Convocation was based around the book we had to read over the summer called, Factfulness, which was a book written by Hans Rosling. The book’s soul intention is to convey the message that the world is in a better state than most people think. At the convocation, a woman who was born and raised in Europe and went to school in Northern Ireland came up to speak about her experience with the message that Factfulness describes and how it affected her life. She explains how much she was fascinated with Hans Rosling’s categorization of the countries of the world’s wealth and income. She describes her experience as she walked on the soil of these “Level 1 income” countries and saw what the people are living like. It wasn’t as good as how we’re living and it was blatantly obvious. She explained how she wanted to work to improve the state of these countries that are living in extreme poverty. I actually found her words and views to be pretty inspiring and I’m happy to see that there are people in this world that are willing to give their time to helping others in need.

36. During the speech, Sister Mullan came to talk to us about the book Factfulness by Hans Rosling. She came to the United States a few days after the tragedy event of 9/11. She talked about three topics during the speech, historical context of factfulness, facts and reasons, and factfulness in real life. She mentioned the four levels people live on, 1-4 and explains the different lifestyle they each have.She gave examples during the speech for example, showed a picture of feet from someone who lives on level 1 and someone who lives on level 4. She also showed a video of Bill Gates giving his opinion about the book. Something that really stood out to me was when she mentioned how everyone wishes to do better and have a stable job and feel like they are getting positive rather than staying in a negative mindset in the world.

37. Today I attended the Freshman Convocation and overall, it was quite an interesting experience. One point the speaker touches one is about binary thinking. She says most people think this way because we as a society don’t like to hear stuff that we think is wrong, even if new information corrects the old news people continuously refuse to believe it. This is an issue because it stops us from critically thinking about the facts that are directly in front of us. During the video with Bill Gates, he discusses how Rolsing divides the economic levels into 4 groups. Also, he breaks down what Rosling says by stating that the world is getting better because people are moving up through the levels. It may take a few generations but things are still progressing. Thus, conflicting with others who think otherwise. They believe the world is only getting worse and never look at things in a positive light. But actually, things are better than we think. The speaker mentions that most people in the world don’t live on level one or 4, they live mostly in the middle. Life in the middle is fine but people want to continue moving up. People on level one live in extreme poverty but there are always ways to improve in every level if someone has enough drive to take action on making those changes.
    One topic that stuck with me was ‘The Girl Effect’, which basically described a series of events — a girl goes to school, invests in a cow, starts a business, provides clean water, huge social change, leading to a stronger economy, and an overall better world — all starting for the change and an action taken on by one girl all alone. This resonated with me because it emphasizes that it only takes one person to make a change, difference, or have an impact on the world. Imagine if everyone take the actions necessary to have positive impacts on our econom, this world would be such a better place.

38. Yesterday I attended a lecture about the book “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling. Sister Mullan who was the guest speaker, moved to the United States and has been here for the last 18 years. Sister Mullan talked about her travels around different countries and showed everybody how other countries are currently living. Seeing how other people are living in other countries and how she is willing to help certain people really caught my attention. Throughout her lecture she described different poverty levels and basically connects her life experiences with Factfulness. Listening to her stories really inspired me to want to help people who need it.

39. In the convocation that I saw yesterday, it was mainly about a woman named Sister Mulan. She basically uses the Rosling’s novel “Factfulness’ to give a deeper meaning of topics from the book and even relates it to her life. The first part of the presentation was about her early stages in a city in Ireland that is known as the two names of Derry and Londonderry. From seeing a solider die right in front of her house to moving to America two weeks after 9/11 was pretty shocking.
    One of the topics that she discussed about the 4 levels of income and got me by surprised when she said most of the students are on level 4. She expressed all of the level 1 traits such as having the walk as transportation, what kind house they would live in and how their income would be $1. For level 2, their type of transportation is a bicycle and the daily wage would go up to $4. Level 3 people are able to drive a car, have clean water, and their wage would be around $32. The last level 4 you are able to drive more than 1 car, the income would be higher than $32, and most of the people are likely are well educated. One part of the lecture that really did touch a nerve is how she said, “Peoples income is the single biggest factor in determining quality outcome of life” and used one of Rosling’s example of a person looking down from a skyscraper. This discussion is also what Bill Gates pointed out in the video presentation which talked about why “Factfulness” is a great novel and is considered as one of his favorite books.
    Overall, this presentation gave me a different and better understanding about what that I have read over the summer. Even though the world is progressing, some countries go through some rough stretches like the Nebu mountains where the country is at a civil war. I like how Sister Mulan talked about there is no gap between the rich and poor, but the vast majority of people are in between Level 2 and Level 3, This convocation relates to what we are talking about in my FRST 1002 class because we have the same discussions of real world problems and advocates you to see the bigger picture.

40. Today, at the Freshman Convocation Lecture, Sister Mullen—who grew up in a small town in Ireland—pointed out three very important factors necessary for us to acknowledge as we grow older. The first key point; Humans natural instinct to automatically view the world through two living styles—rich and poor—rarely considering the wide gap in-between, which we live in now. This ideology closely relates to Rosling’s idea of the Gap Instinct. Sister Mullens second major point illustrated the importance of Rosling’s strong belief that the world is better than we understand. Considering Sister Mullen grew up in a small town, like I did, I was able to closely relate with the feeling she felt 18 years ago when she was also trapped in a small town. This is exactly how I felt in my town, curious about the world around me, yet so set back by the inescapable fish tank of a town around us. This topic, in my opinion, appears to be most important for me to understand right now; a problem I admittedly failed to understand, for many years, was that I was right about mostly everything, until I realized that I truly know close to nothing. This new perspective of the world has opened my eyes to finally understand the pictures I see in front of me and not only judge them by their shadow but but to understand the story behind it. The third piece of advice opened my eyes to a new understanding of what change I can make, Sister Mullen explained the importance of girl education, extreme poverty, and natural disaster. Her theory explained how providing one girl with just enough resources could allow her to provide water, food, and other resources for a whole community. This effect could spread exponentially if we were to take action. Although besides these factors I’m very thankful to have leaders, such as Sister Mullen, provide me and the community around me with such useful information. She helped me understand how to widen my horizons and explore deeper into the unknown world around me, and at the end of the presentation consider my position in this world. With this new information and conformation of the theories I had while trapped in a small town allow me to now make a change starting just within my community.

41. The convocation lecture was very interesting when iSister Dierdre Mullan said $32 can get you a bike, a phone, and many other things.

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