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    The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge
    The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge
    The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge

    Written by Matt Ridley

    Narrated by Steven Crossley

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    “Mr. Ridley’s best and most important work to date…there is something profoundly democratic and egalitarian—even anti-elitist—in this bottom-up approach: Everyone can have a role in bringing about change.” —Wall Street Journal

    The New York Times bestselling author of The Rational Optimist and Genome returns with a fascinating argument for evolution that definitively dispels a dangerous, widespread myth: that we can command and control our world

    Human society evolves. Change in technology, language, morality, and society is incremental, inexorable, gradual, and spontaneous. It follows a narrative, going from one stage to the next, and it largely happens by trial and error—a version of natural selection. Much of the human world is the result of human action but not of human design: it emerges from the interactions of millions, not from the plans of a few.

    Drawing on fascinating evidence from science, economics, history, politics, and philosophy, Matt Ridley demolishes conventional assumptions that the great events and trends of our day are dictated by those on high. On the contrary, our most important achievements develop from the bottom up. The Industrial Revolution, cell phones, the rise of Asia, and the Internet were never planned; they happened. Languages emerged and evolved by a form of natural selection, as did common law. Torture, racism, slavery, and pedophilia—all once widely regarded as acceptable—are now seen as immoral despite the decline of religion in recent decades.

    In this wide-ranging, erudite book, Ridley brilliantly makes the case for evolution, rather than design, as the force that has shaped much of our culture, our technology, our minds, and that even now is shaping our future.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 27, 2015
    ISBN9780062421289
    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 Evolution of Everything

    4.5/5

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    • 4/5
      An argument about sponteous order in economics and society - a libertarian or neo-liberal tract about free markets and limited government.
    • 5/5
      Great book. I enjoyed most of it. Recommended without a doubt.
    • 5/5
      Amazingly articulated view on evolution. This book is for the ones who believe in the process.
    • 5/5
      A great resource for expanding your awareness. The title could also be the history of everything. This is an excellent point of reference to delve into many different studies. Definitely bookshelf worthy!
    • 5/5
      History, biology, science, IT, psychology, everything in one book. Good information!