The Rational Optimist

How Prosperity Evolves

By: Matt Ridley

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Life is getting better at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.

The pessimists who dominate public discourse insist that we will soon reach a turning point and things will start to get worse. But they have been saying this for 200 years.

Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization, which started more than 100,000 years ago, has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair.

This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the 21st century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

©2010 Matt Ridley (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Absolutely fantastic

Like another reviewer I've listened to it twice because I love it that much. It's clear, rational, and really thought provoking.

must-read - intelligent and uplifting

this book is a must-read. well-written, concise, and really puts things in perspective. intelligent and uplifting.

Ideas having Sex

This was a really enjoyable book to read and helped me find some comfort in the transforming world in which we live!

Also, I now will never stop thinking about ideas having sex, and what an important part of human progress that really is! Thanks Matt!

one of the few I read every 2 years

changed my way of looking at the world. Paradigm shifter for sure. In my top 10, probably top 5 favorites.

Excelent!!!!!!

This book shall be obligated reading for every politician before taking the office and also each student before receiving the degree!!

Phenomenal read

The history and facts and commentary are extraordinary. Completely changed my perceptions of the world and its future, along with the human race. I highly recommend it.

A noble work of the intellect

The American economist Murray Rothbard once wrote,

"Every once in awhile the human race pauses in the job of botching its affairs and redeems itself by a noble work of the intellect."

It's as if he had been thinking of "The Rational Optimist" when he wrote that, for it is certainly a fit description of this book.  In fact, were I to have dictatorial powers, I'd compel everyone to read at least this one book, a la Mao Tse Tung. 

Unlike Mao's "Little Red Book", however, this one exalts the wonders of the bottom-up system that has resulted, quite unintendedly, in the unprecedented global prosperity that we presently enjoy.  A prosperity that is sadly too often either ignored or completely taken for granted.

I highly recommend "The Rational Optimist".  If nothing else, to learn about the myriad wonders that adherence to the current popular ideologies have rendered invisible, though they are "hidden" in plain sight.

Amazing perspectives throughout

This probably shows up in other reviews as well, but what a fascinating island of perspective amidst a sea of falsehoods.

Oh, I would pay multiples of what I paid for this book to see the author debate the likes of Bernie Sanders.

Magnifique !

Excellent thought provoking book

This was a book that me ponder much about what I thought I “knew” based upon many news headlines. A good long term perspective on societal development that’s much more interesting than my little review.

This book has a lot of good points

This book has a lot of good points, however, it seems to assume that you believe in the theory of evolution. I find it somewhat amusing that he can strain over a 50-year span of time in recent history and yet throw out what happened 500,000, 1, 000,000, or 100 million years around like there is actually any proof of these timelines. We can hardly prove 200 years ago, and we're to believe his examples of 100x that? Sticking to human history is much better, not everyone believes Darwin. If you can overlook that, the rest is good.