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    The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
    The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
    The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves

    Written by Matt Ridley

    Narrated by L.J. Ganser

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “A delightful and fascinating book filled with insight and wit, which will make you think twice and cheer up.” — Steven Pinker

    In a bold and provocative interpretation of economic history, Matt Ridley, the New York Times-bestselling author of Genome and The Red Queen, makes the case for an economics of hope, arguing that the benefits of commerce, technology, innovation, and change—what Ridley calls cultural evolution—will inevitably increase human prosperity. Fans of the works of Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel), Niall Ferguson (The Ascent of Money), and Thomas Friedman (The World Is Flat) will find much to ponder and enjoy in The Rational Optimist.

    For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.

    An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history—from the Stone Age to the Internet—The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 18, 2010
    ISBN9780061997655
    Author

    Matt Ridley

    Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything. His book on How Innovation Works was published in 2020, and Viral: the Search for the Origin of Covid-19, co-authored with Alina Chan, was published in 2021. He sat in the House of Lords between 2013 and 2021 and served on the science and technology select committee and the artificial intelligence select committee. He was founding chairman of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle. He created the Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal in 2010, and was a columnist for the Times 2013-2018. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives in Northumberland.

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    Reviews for The Rational Optimist

    4.5/5

    116 ratings20 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Too good! After the first chapter I didn't need to read it on, because it was enough to understand his thesis.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This book leaves me puzzled. It offers a dazzling overview of human history drenched in an optimistic "progression"-approach. Especially the emphasis on the evergrowing and intertwined role of exchange, specialisation and innovation is an eye-opener. For me, he is also rather convincing in his condemnation of the always returning doomthinking, especially on the climate-change issue. But, on the other hand, this is also a radical, ultra-liberal pamphlet. Ridley glorifies in one-sided freemarket retoric, scorches governments and bureaucracies as catastrofical instruments, and he is extremely apologetic about the record of corporations (although he keeps silent about his own role in the Northern Rock-debacle). So, I'm puzzled: this book is breathtaking ("thoughtprovoking") and horrible at the same time. It doesn't leave you indifferent, for sure. Let me conclude: this is a must-read!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Very thought-provoking. While I don't agree with all Ridley's arguments, the overall thesis is interesting, and the book is definitely worth reading.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A very thoughtful collection of facts and great insights that explain how the world evolved to what it is today. Contrary to what some said on other comments, Mr. Ridley points the correct way to a clean energy future, a sustainable one based on true facts and good net results, not based on passion or false assumptions. And the book is very useful to make us think about the real nature of things around us. This book is so rich of good information and carries the audience throughout the history of our civilization in such a great way, that it is now on the top list of the books that contributed to my understanding of the world. I just remember been so delighted with a book before in a long time ago, probably when I was a little boy and read Hubert Reeves "Patience dans l'azur". This is a must read for anyone that wants to TRULY understand the world around us. And to look for the bright future we have ahead of us if we make decisions based on facts, not on ideologies. Worse than an unsustainable economy are unsustainable ideas and fallacies.
    • 4/5
      Definitely beats the drum for libertarianism. Free market = good, government = bad, we are told repeatedly. This from a guy who ran a bank into the ground with subprime mortgages right before the Great Recession. There is some fascinating stuff in here and it's told well. Take it with a grain of salt, don't take it as your only source of knowledge, but food for thought nonetheless.
    • 4/5
      I might disagree on some things with the writer, but this book was very interesting to listen to and teaches me how to be more optimistic with the world. I like books which analyze how the world became like it is today and this is a good one. I have also read my favorite: sapiens from Harari.
    • 4/5
      This book leaves me puzzled. It offers a dazzling overview of human history drenched in an optimistic "progression"-approach. Especially the emphasis on the evergrowing and intertwined role of exchange, specialisation and innovation is an eye-opener. For me, he is also rather convincing in his condemnation of the always returning doomthinking, especially on the climate-change issue. But, on the other hand, this is also a radical, ultra-liberal pamphlet. Ridley glorifies in one-sided freemarket retoric, scorches governments and bureaucracies as catastrofical instruments, and he is extremely apologetic about the record of corporations (although he keeps silent about his own role in the Northern Rock-debacle). So, I'm puzzled: this book is breathtaking ("thoughtprovoking") and horrible at the same time. It doesn't leave you indifferent, for sure. Let me conclude: this is a must-read!
    • 4/5
      Chapter 8-11 are the best chapters from the book in my opinion.
    • 4/5
      This book leaves me puzzled. It offers a dazzling overview of human history drenched in an optimistic "progression"-approach. Especially the emphasis on the evergrowing and intertwined role of exchange, specialisation and innovation is an eye-opener. For me, he is also rather convincing in his condemnation of the always returning doomthinking, especially on the climate-change issue. But, on the other hand, this is also a radical, ultra-liberal pamphlet. Ridley glorifies in one-sided freemarket retoric, scorches governments and bureaucracies as catastrofical instruments, and he is extremely apologetic about the record of corporations (although he keeps silent about his own role in the Northern Rock-debacle). So, I'm puzzled: this book is breathtaking ("thoughtprovoking") and horrible at the same time. It doesn't leave you indifferent, for sure. Let me conclude: this is a must-read!
    • 4/5
      In an age of plenty for a sizable portion of the population, why are there so many apocaholics? Heck, I'm one part of the time. Why is it of interest to imagine or predict hundreds of ways that humanity will meet its doom? There are bookshelves loaded with such books, it's a given in most movies, experts abound in bad news, and most individuals have a theory or two on what's going to get us. Are most humans natural pessimists or are the pessimisms justified? Maybe optimism doesn't sell.Ridley, lately of Northern Rock infamy, is an unrepentant optimist. He's a descendant of Adam Smith and Hayak in this regard. Actually, Smith thought there was a limit to growth and equilibrium would be reached in a market economy. Their train of thought is wealth arises from exchange and specialization. Trade and expertise. Because there are no limits to ideas this process can go on for a long time and create immense wealth. The wealth attracts attention from others- power seekers, competitors, empires, governments, and priestly castes- and the process is interrupted or reversed for a time. Still, though exchange and specialization might be suppressed in one area it tends to pop up somewhere else. Back and forth it goes through time and generally ends up raising standards of living in the long run.Hot showers, flushing toilets, media, vacations, travel, transportation, and cheap calories are some of the results. It's estimated that there are upwards of twelve billion consumer products available now. Does this make most of us happy? Hell no! As Paul Krugman, and others, have pointed out, we look at our two BMWs, then notice the neighbors have three, and boy, are we pissed. Ridley actually stays away from the happiness indexes and just focuses on the tangible physical goods and lifestyles we have now. Most of us didn't go to work this week picking cotton with an overseer lashing us with a whip when we had a bad hair moment which resulted in a lackadaisical cotton picking. He admits it still happens in some hellholes but it is not as common as it used to be. Ridley covers several areas including, Malthusian traps, food, inventions, innovation and the two great pessimisms of today: Africa and climate change. He makes and sticks to his case in a clear easy to comprehend style. Most readers will probably find themselves arguing with him a time or two. If you're a dyed in the wool pessimist then you'll likely be arguing with him the whole book or flinging it across or at something or other. If that happens it won't be difficult to find a pessimistic book fix. Those keep on coming like clockwork.
    • 3/5
      A seductive and provocative book that gets you to thinking about the state of our world. At first very convincing about the major thesis that commerce and trade are the keys to progress and a civilized, progressive society but as it moves through historical example after example, you realize he is chosing his examples to fit his obessesive idea rather than exploring the validity of that idea. What seems a fact becomes a cause rather than an exploration. Well worth the reading and the stimulating challenge to conventional pessimism but in the end, a polemic rather than an exploration.
    • 3/5
      Very tempting title and first several chapters - life has been steadily improving. However, some of these happy platitudes seem to fall apart the further I read.

      I'm not going to dispute the benefits of free trade, the exchange of ideas, and the steady march of technology. On the contrary. I'm even pleased to remark that he has some reasonable understanding of GM crops and is willing to defend them.

      What does bother me is the incomplete and baffling treatment that global warming received. The good effects are a surprising touch, yes, but the bad effects are not wholly neutralized. He dismisses them breezily. I am finding this to be more worrisome than most.

      This is a refreshing breath of fresh air, yes, but one should be prepared to evaluate and analyze all statements, optimistic or otherwise.
    • 4/5
      This is an engaging, eye-opening and thought provoking book. I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, but it did make me think about some of the ways media can shape your responses and the way your gut reactions to people, organizations or ideas can lead you to think less carefully about what is real. You do need to challenge your assumptions, and his fundamental premise that things will improve, that we have the potential to come up with innovative and successful solutions to issues as they arrive seems worth considering.
    • 5/5
      मानवी उत्क्रांतीचा सकारात्मक पैलू या पुस्तकातून आपल्यासमोर येतो. उत्कर्ष हा नैसर्गाचा नियम आहे आणि त्या नियमाला अनुसरून मानवी विश्वाची वाटचाल सुरू आहे. व्यापार हा मानवी जीवनाच्या समृद्धीचा गाभा आहे हे या पुस्तकातून अतिशय उत्तमरीत्या सोदाहरण दाखवून देण्यात आले आहे. हे पुस्तक मला आवडलेल्या सर्वोत्तम पुस्तकांपैकी एक आहे.
    • 2/5
      Mixed in with some interesting takes on the causation of the formation of civilization is an absurd and obviously logically flawwed love for fossil fuels and contempt for the need to replace them for our future civilization's well-being. He spends an unbearable amount of time generating and scoffing down straw-man arguments against working towards a clean energy future.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      An excellent book! A must read for every pessimist.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Broad overview of Human race from optimistic eyes. Insightful. Specialisation & collective cooperation r d key to success of Humans!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The short answer to the question implied by the subtitle (according to the author) is specialization and the exchange of goods, services, and ideas. He goes on to show that once our ancestors learned to trade with one another, human prosperity (collectively) began to grow rapidly (relatively speaking) and is likely to continue to do so (on average, over the long run), despite what present day naysayers and doom mongers may say. There have always been those who predict dire futures and proclaim with confidence that the end is near, but they've most always been wrong. The future ends up better...not only better than the one the alarmists predicted but better than at any time in the past. Oddly, although they are most often wrong, pessimists are usually more highly regarded than people who see a more optimistic (and realistic) future. He puts it this way:
      "Optimists are dismissed as fools, pessimists as sages, by a media that likes to be spoon-fed on scary press releases. That does not make the optimists right, but the poor track record of pessimists should at least give one pause."
      Although I cannot agree with every point Matt Ridley makes in this book, it does indeed give one pause. It provokes thought, and that makes it a worthy book in my mind.
      There are times when the book takes on an alarmist tone, seemingly warning that dire consequences for the world can be expected if people listen to alarmists. Ironic that, I thought. And, I think, an exaggeration. One of the reasons dire predictions fail is because alarmists have raised legitimate concerns, and people, through technology and governmental regulations, have taken steps to mitigate the problems. There is no doubt that air pollution, for example, is not as bad as it was half a century ago (at least here in the U.S.) but I have to think that this was, at least in part, a result of the efforts of environmental activists bringing the issue to public awareness, which prompted government regulation, which spurred technological innovation. Without these, would L.A. still be shrouded in smog? I can't know for sure, but I rather suspect it would be. Raising alarm isn't always bad. If a fire is smoldering in a corner, it's helpful if someone tells you they think they smell smoke before the building burns down.
      Still, all in all, a thought provoking read on human progress and on contemporary issues such as organic farming, fossil fuels, climate change, and population. I recommend it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      More expansive and scientific than even Harari’s ‘Sapiens’ and ‘Homo Dues’ combined. I will be listening to this again. At least once.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      If you step back a bit it's actually funny if a bit lacking in self-awareness. What the message can be condensed to is: shut up you peasant, stop complaining and get back to work and be thankful you're not dying of smallpox you ungrateful slacker.

      The levels of condescension are unreal. I was genuinely wondering at times if this had been written on a dare.