Definition
The worldview checklist is the practical Factfulness routine — a short list of questions, one per dramatic instinct, that you run when a piece of news or data triggers a strong reaction.
The checklist exists because catching an instinct in the moment is hard. The dramatic response feels like clear sight, not distortion. A pre-built list gives the slow mind something to do while the fast mind cools down — turning ten abstract corrections into ten concrete prompts.
Why it matters
How it works
When a number, story, or claim provokes a strong reaction, run the ten questions in order. Where is the majority — am I looking at a gap or a hump? (Gap.) Am I hearing about bad news because it is new, or because it is loudly reported? (Negativity.) Is this trend a line or a curve? (Straight line.) Is the risk frightening or actually likely? (Fear.) What is this number divided by, and compared with what? (Size.) Is the category masking variance inside it? (Generalization.) Has the so-called fixed feature changed across decades? (Destiny.) What other framework would tell a different story? (Single perspective.) Whom am I tempted to blame, and what system shaped them? (Blame.) Is the urgency real or rhetorical, and what is the smallest reversible step? (Urgency.)
Most reactions survive a few of the questions and fail on one or two. The failing ones name which instinct is firing and what the corrective is. The remaining reaction — the part that survives the whole list — is the version worth acting on.
The checklist also works pre-emptively. Before publishing, deciding, or arguing, run the list against your own framing. The questions usually reveal which of your sentences are dramatic and which are calibrated, and which would survive a careful reader running the same checks.