Life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are dow...
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Nov 18, 2011
Richard
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I wanted to read this because of the excellent review in the Economist: Getting better all the time: The biological, cultural and economic forces behind human progress.
But I started out skeptical. I’m fairly optimistic that in the long term humans are pretty good at ratcheting up to a better future, but my gut reaction to the wide array of problems facing today’s civilization is that the cumulative effect might trigger a global “reset button” handing us a new Dark Age within a few ge More...
But I started out skeptical. I’m fairly optimistic that in the long term humans are pretty good at ratcheting up to a better future, but my gut reaction to the wide array of problems facing today’s civilization is that the cumulative effect might trigger a global “reset button” handing us a new Dark Age within a few ge More...
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Oct 18, 2010
Max
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3.5. I loved the first two chapters of this. After that, it got steadily worse and I ended up skipping the last 100 pgs.
The premise is that human culture is very adept at innovating and solving problems; as such, the author believes that, despite the pessimism of most people, one can very rationally feel quite optimistic over the future of humanity. We will find solutions to climate change and the other great problems that our species faces.
I am sympathetic to this arg More...
The premise is that human culture is very adept at innovating and solving problems; as such, the author believes that, despite the pessimism of most people, one can very rationally feel quite optimistic over the future of humanity. We will find solutions to climate change and the other great problems that our species faces.
I am sympathetic to this arg More...
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Nov 07, 2010
David
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This book is an excellent antidote to the long litany of depressing news that has greeted us in the past few years. In response to the fashionable negativism, Riddley brings forth a veritable machine gun of statistics that show how things really aren't that bad, and, if one dares to go out on a limb, are likely to get better.
One excerpt is so great it is worth quoting in toto [pg. 13:]. Ridley asks us to imagine a better-off-than-average family in Western Europe or eastern North Amer More...
One excerpt is so great it is worth quoting in toto [pg. 13:]. Ridley asks us to imagine a better-off-than-average family in Western Europe or eastern North Amer More...
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Feb 04, 2012
Brian
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Matt Ridley in the Rational Optimist attempts to take a world of pessimism and turn the glass half full. Drawing upon a myriad of ideas this book seeks to look at how prosperity has evolved through empirical, economic and philosophical analysis. It is through these various strengths that a compelling argument is made although one that like many of the arguments against cannot be settled definitively. By drawing on the philosophies of Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Darwin and Hayek the author brings fo
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Jan 02, 2012
Jerry
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An excellent history of civilization as a concept from prehistory to modern times. Explains why humans evolved and began to trade with each other. Traces progress and improving conditions. Makes the case for being optimistic about the long-term prospects for humanity.
When human beings were all still hunter-gatherers, each needed about 1000 hectares of land to support him or her. Now thanks to modern farming each needs little more than a tenth of a hectare. Since 1900 the world has More...
When human beings were all still hunter-gatherers, each needed about 1000 hectares of land to support him or her. Now thanks to modern farming each needs little more than a tenth of a hectare. Since 1900 the world has More...
Oct 06, 2011
Daniel
rated it:
I just finished Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley. Because I am an overly pessimistic individual, I expected to hate the book.
I loved the book.
I should point out where I read the book, because context is important in this case. I was in Berlin. My hotel room was about 50 meters away from Checkpoint Charlie the central point of the cold war. I was within 2 minutes the remains of a train station where thousands of Jews were sent to their death. I was near the remains of the More...
I loved the book.
I should point out where I read the book, because context is important in this case. I was in Berlin. My hotel room was about 50 meters away from Checkpoint Charlie the central point of the cold war. I was within 2 minutes the remains of a train station where thousands of Jews were sent to their death. I was near the remains of the More...
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May 31, 2011
Ranga
rated it:
A Masterpiece. Matt Ridley is always a pleasure to read, but this puts the icing on the cake. If I claimed The Rational Optimist to be the most important non-fiction book I've read in my entire life, it wouldn't be far from the truth. I'll be going through the individual references next week, and looking at their citations for more insights, but seriously, this is a must read. If you want to fight poverty, save the environment, and build a better world - look no further. READ THIS BOOK.
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May 03, 2011
Espen
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Matt Ridley, science writer and commentator, delivers a blistering attack on the pessimists of the world, who extrapolate their way to doom and gloom, whether it be a new Ice Age, overpopulation, markets rather than hierarchies, energy crises, food scares and epidemics. He shows, with a wealth of examples (not always well referenced - especially the statistics) that the human race, due to its unique in its ability to trade goods, services and ideas with people outside the family or other small g
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Dec 22, 2010
Lars
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Taking its place as a global history and a guide to clearly understanding why things are as they are in the world, the Rational Optimist has a number of clear premises, each of which is persuasively and clearly demonstrated by examining the actual results of history, rather than the wishful thinking of Utopians.
1. The free exchange of ideas - what he amusingly refers to as "ideas having sex" - has the same evolutionary effect as sexual reproduction; to wit, constant refinemen More...
1. The free exchange of ideas - what he amusingly refers to as "ideas having sex" - has the same evolutionary effect as sexual reproduction; to wit, constant refinemen More...
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Dec 11, 2010
Void
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It's very rarely i stumble upon such a rare gem. I was initially a bit skeptical, thinking by the title it might be a blabla type feel good book, but i was blown away but i what I found: a very solid strong scientific book with tons of facts and reliable research. And while i did love feeling a biologist was explaining stuff, and it took me back to my old love of history (which i now see in a completely new light) what i was so very impressed to find was that it was written by a man who understa
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Nov 16, 2010
Brad
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Ridley takes the roundabout path to explaining his optimism, first enthralling the reader with many of the terrible and calamitous aspects of modern humanity, only then digressing into his evaluations and reasons for his (very well-founded) rational optimism. Along the way, one finds much that is well known, but then much more from Ridley that is not widespread or immediately obvious. His depth of knowledge about myriad topics is almost as impressive as the passion and clarity with which he [eve
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Sep 12, 2010
David
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I finished reading Matt Ridley's The Rational Optimist over Rosh Hashana, and it was a heck of a good book. Ridley is a profoundly original thinker: he makes a novel countercultural argument, and makes it extremely well. His basic thesis is that the thing that differentiated us from our Cro-Magnon (etc) ancestors is our communal memory - our ability to, in Jefferson's words, light our taper from his without diminishing his light. He posits that the central innovation here is in fact that innovat
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Jul 20, 2010
Austin
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Matt Ridley is a former editor of The Economist and his political biases are not hard to predict: generally progressive/liberal goals accomplished through free-market and individualist means. He explores human development through that lens.
His thesis is that the major mechanism of human progress is specialization and exchange of skills, tools and ideas. He starts with the success of Homo Sapiens and the demise of Neanderthals: modern humans developed specialized tasks within their tr More...
His thesis is that the major mechanism of human progress is specialization and exchange of skills, tools and ideas. He starts with the success of Homo Sapiens and the demise of Neanderthals: modern humans developed specialized tasks within their tr More...
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Jul 16, 2010
Hinch
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The basic premise of The Rational Optimist is that human prosperity is predominantly founded on two principles: exchange and specialization. As we trade with one another, increasing the breadth of our consumption, but refining the focus of our production, innovation increases, and living standards are raised. The greatest risk to ever increasing prosperity is not economic growth; rather its opposite, a return to self-sufficiency. The history of humanity, even in the face of war, plague, and radi
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Jun 06, 2010
Kare
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"Stop moping about a grim financial future â because we keep on changing for the better, believes Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist who suggests âWe progress when we trade and we only really trade productively when we trust each otherâ¦. â
After millions of years of indulging in reciprocal back-scratching of gradually increasing intensity, one species, and one alone, stumbled upon an entirely different trick. Adam gave Oz an object in exchange for a different ob More...
After millions of years of indulging in reciprocal back-scratching of gradually increasing intensity, one species, and one alone, stumbled upon an entirely different trick. Adam gave Oz an object in exchange for a different ob More...
Aug 11, 2010
Shawn
rated it:
I don't care if you're a Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Libertarian, Marxist, Liberal, Conservative, Communist (etc.), you must read this book. Whether or not you agree or disagree I can promise that it will change the way you look at things!
Important Notes:
"Those of Libertarian bent often prove more generous than those of a socialist persuasion: where the socialist feels that it is the government's job to look after the poor using taxes, Libertarians think it is t More...
Important Notes:
"Those of Libertarian bent often prove more generous than those of a socialist persuasion: where the socialist feels that it is the government's job to look after the poor using taxes, Libertarians think it is t More...
Jul 27, 2010
Andrew
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Ridley's books on genetics and evolution are clear, well-supported books on the topic, so I was looking forward to his newest piece of non-fiction. Instead it is a conflation of economics, anthropology, genetics, gaming and a half-dozen other disciplines that argues "don't worry, be happy" about human progress.
Though he's right about human progress over centuries, the book would have been laughed off the market had it appeared in a period like that after World War II, whe More...
Though he's right about human progress over centuries, the book would have been laughed off the market had it appeared in a period like that after World War II, whe More...
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Apr 11, 2011
Gordon
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Here is the central thesis of The Rational Optimist: What is uniquely human is that our intelligence is collective and cumulative in a way that is true of no other animal. (Richard Dawkins, of "The Selfish Gene" fame, dubbed the units of cultural imitation that comprise this heritage as "memes".) Evolution in sexually reproducing species is driven by genetic exchange. Culture evolution is much the same, but the unit of exchange is the idea. The truly Big Bang idea was that
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Jan 27, 2011
Keith
rated it: 
Ridley gives a good description of how the barter and exchange of goods and ideas has helped make improvements in human lives. I think, though, he overstates his case, especially in his vilification of straw men (i.e., the government and liberals) and his attacks on pessimists (no matter how out of the mainstream their ideas are/were). This is too bad because he could have had a very good book otherwise. His continual snarking about government intervention in business is especially annoying, an
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Aug 13, 2011
Jason
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This is a great book that spins a more positive look at both the past and the future. As the title suggests, the author takes a very rational and thought out look at our modern world. Really, things are way better than they have ever been. . A lot of the work was contradictory towards my own beliefs, as the author exposes a more libertarian view of the world. Yet I agreed with most of his points and enjoyed how he approached the subject matter. Most works, no matter what their political sl
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May 10, 2011
Evan
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Simply excellent. I have long vacillated between declinist pessimism and technological optimism, but this book has drawn me solidly into the latter camp. Matt Ridley lays out how the human capacity for trade, innovation, and exchange has been improving the human condition throughout history, as well as the grounds for his expectation that humanity will continue to prosper -- and indeed that increases in prosperity will continue accelerating -- into the future. Ridley's no starry-eyed optimist
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May 11, 2011
Joshua
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Compelling, readable, and sometimes enlightening, this book progressively eroded my trust by frequent highly-selective citations of statistics. Additionally, the main thrust of argument in the latter chapters -- "People making claims of catastrophe have always been wrong in the past, so they'll be wrong this time" -- is woefully short of valid reasoning. That's an oversimplification of his arguments, but not excessively so.
Among my favorite moments was his dissection of a s More...
Among my favorite moments was his dissection of a s More...
Jul 19, 2010
Laurel
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The basic premises:
(1) In the course of human history, people have lived increasingly prosperous, comfortable lives. This statement might seem surprising at first, but only because of the common tendency to paint the (unexperienced) past in rosy hues. On closer examination, the average inhabitant of a modern country lives a life kings of the past would envy.
(2) The drive behind this ongoing improvement is trade, both of goods and ideas. Not charitable works or government r More...
(1) In the course of human history, people have lived increasingly prosperous, comfortable lives. This statement might seem surprising at first, but only because of the common tendency to paint the (unexperienced) past in rosy hues. On closer examination, the average inhabitant of a modern country lives a life kings of the past would envy.
(2) The drive behind this ongoing improvement is trade, both of goods and ideas. Not charitable works or government r More...
Aug 05, 2011
Per Ridley the future is never the same as it is today, so we can not make predications on the future based upon our current situation or the past – yet pessimists continually presume we live in a zero-sum gain world, and based upon our current trajectory we are doomed.
If on were to look at the consensus of scientific community over the course of the last hundred and fifty years you would come away that there is a 100% chance that we would all be dead by now. Starting with our first predictions More...
If on were to look at the consensus of scientific community over the course of the last hundred and fifty years you would come away that there is a 100% chance that we would all be dead by now. Starting with our first predictions More...
Jan 21, 2012
Brian
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This is a must read for anyone wanting to get a clear picture of what lies ahead. We accumulate so many negative feelings from negative predictions of dire consequences, yet the popular media never has a follow up to say whether those predictions in fact came true. So, they are still in our conscience, weighting us down. Ridley goes back over the various doom and gloom scenarios of the past, right up to recent time, and examines why, though reasonable at the time, they did not come true becau
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May 27, 2010
Christine
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Matt Ridley tells us things are getting better in the world. And the best part is he gives us detailed information and examples of it. Ridley outlines how naysayers were stating doom and gloom from the beginning of time to modern time, so nothing is new. One of his major viewpoints is that technology and the free market will keep us moving forward as it always has in the world.
I can't say enough about this author's work. I recognize I am not doing him justice in this review. Y More...
I can't say enough about this author's work. I recognize I am not doing him justice in this review. Y More...
Jun 13, 2010
Michael
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Ridley argues that humans developed a capacity for trade long before the advent of agriculture. It is in our nature. There is no tribe on earth that doesn't engage in trade and commerce. He says that it is incredibly patronizing to suggest that westerners have markets and commerce and that other people's just give each other gives to lubricate social cohesion. After almost a million years of gene culture co-evolution, humans can hardly survive without trading things and ideas. A great examp
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Jan 05, 2011
Jeremy
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I liked it a lot. There were two main theses, one of which I agree with more than the other. First, he argues that human progress and prosperity initially got their kickstart because of trading and specialization. I think that he's probably correct, but there isn't enough evidence to determine cause and effect.
His other thesis, which I agree strongly with, is that when people look to the future, they are too pessimistic - they greatly underestimate the capability for technology and cul More...
His other thesis, which I agree strongly with, is that when people look to the future, they are too pessimistic - they greatly underestimate the capability for technology and cul More...
Jul 31, 2010
Melina
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Some really interesting ideas and thoroughly amazing facts.... but in the end, it undermines itself. I even agree with the central tenet that the world is getting better, and could go with the argument that specialization and trade are at the center of progress. But it's a good example of how not to make an argument - it takes a persuasive theory and carries it way, way too far, mocking those who disagree and not admitting to any grey areas. Every single cause for pessimism in the modern world m
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Aug 02, 2011
Nancy
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First see my favorite statement of belief: Robert Heinlein's statement to "This I Believe." I qualify as an optimist. I am profoundly disappointed in this book. It is hard to read, until the reader realizes that the logical jumps and vague generalizations that are being presented as truth are making it impossible to create meaning from the book. Best example? The assertion (pg. 204) that birth rates fell across Asia markedly and voluntarily -- has he not heard of China's One-Chil
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