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jdintr's review against another edition
3.0
I have many friends who are conservatives--some who even fancy themselves libertarians--and to them I would recommend Ridley's book for a number of its insights.
Ridley's most interesting take is this: "ideas have sex with one another." In other words, they are living, and all living things evolve. Ridley, therefore, looks at standards of living today: lifespans, common appliances, incomes, and he states flatly that mankind has never had it so good. Stop complaining! I found the first half of his book very enlightening.
In the second part of the book, Ridley focuses his ire on those who are "irrational pessimists."
Living in the region I do, I fully expected him to address Bible-beating fundamentalist/ apocalypticists, but instead I found him taking on the environmental movement, which he sees as a barrier to future progress. Ridley relishes pointing out how, time and again, the doomsayers have been wrong--Y2K didn't fry all computers, every child growing up in the 1960s and 70s didn't die of toxic waste, and the Ozone Layer didn't disappear.
In this, I believe, Ridley is right to chastise media that tend to overblow bad news and ignore the good. Still, though, I felt that he went to far. It is true that acid rain is a thing of the past, and that toxic substances didn't doom 25% of children to early deaths, but humanity cleaned up the smokestacks, rehabilitated toxic sites, banned the clouroflourocarbons that caused ozone deplection. One cannot ignore these efforts, when stating that the warnings were baseless.
Personally, I believe the same about Global Warming. I agree with efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Ridley tries to tie Climate Change in with other previous go-nowhere doomsayers, but he wisely steers away from the basic science underlining these concerns: (1) carbon dioxide traps warmth in the atmosphere, (2) the amount of CO2 has risen sharply in recent decades, and (3) the CO2 increases are tied to man-made causes, not natural ones.
Matt Ridley, the Rational Optimist, becomes the Rhetorical Polemicist in the last third of the book. It doesn't take away from the idea of philosophical evolution that he so well explains, but it does make one look forward to the extinction of the kinds of half-brained arguments he utilizes.
Ridley's most interesting take is this: "ideas have sex with one another." In other words, they are living, and all living things evolve. Ridley, therefore, looks at standards of living today: lifespans, common appliances, incomes, and he states flatly that mankind has never had it so good. Stop complaining! I found the first half of his book very enlightening.
In the second part of the book, Ridley focuses his ire on those who are "irrational pessimists."
Living in the region I do, I fully expected him to address Bible-beating fundamentalist/ apocalypticists, but instead I found him taking on the environmental movement, which he sees as a barrier to future progress. Ridley relishes pointing out how, time and again, the doomsayers have been wrong--Y2K didn't fry all computers, every child growing up in the 1960s and 70s didn't die of toxic waste, and the Ozone Layer didn't disappear.
In this, I believe, Ridley is right to chastise media that tend to overblow bad news and ignore the good. Still, though, I felt that he went to far. It is true that acid rain is a thing of the past, and that toxic substances didn't doom 25% of children to early deaths, but humanity cleaned up the smokestacks, rehabilitated toxic sites, banned the clouroflourocarbons that caused ozone deplection. One cannot ignore these efforts, when stating that the warnings were baseless.
Personally, I believe the same about Global Warming. I agree with efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Ridley tries to tie Climate Change in with other previous go-nowhere doomsayers, but he wisely steers away from the basic science underlining these concerns: (1) carbon dioxide traps warmth in the atmosphere, (2) the amount of CO2 has risen sharply in recent decades, and (3) the CO2 increases are tied to man-made causes, not natural ones.
Matt Ridley, the Rational Optimist, becomes the Rhetorical Polemicist in the last third of the book. It doesn't take away from the idea of philosophical evolution that he so well explains, but it does make one look forward to the extinction of the kinds of half-brained arguments he utilizes.
radbear76's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good and it gave me a different perspective. But I'm still.skeptical of his thesis that we can trafe and specilize our way out of problems.
branch_c's review against another edition
3.0
As I’ve said before, I generally like Ridley as a writer, and he gets credit for being intellectually honest about his positions. I agree with him about many things, including the rational optimism of the title. For those who tend toward pessimism, it’s absolutely worth reading the well-reasoned and data-supported opinions of optimists like Ridley and Pinker (The Better Angels of Our Nature). It’s demonstrably true that humans have better lives overall than we have at any point in our history.
On the other hand, Ridley also has some positions I don’t entirely agree with, the most important being the criticality of climate change. He’s clearly done his research, and like many writers, he picks studies and anecdotes that fit his narrative - that the worst case scenarios for climate change are extremely unlikely, and that some of the steps being proposed to fight climate change are doing more harm than good. I appreciate reading work that challenges my preexisting opinions, but in this case, although I don’t have the background to argue against him, there are too many scientists who do for me to be swayed.
Ridley’s antipathy toward big government is also based on solid research, but in this case it’s primarily the history of what has worked and what hasn’t in the past. He makes an excellent case for the solutions to significant social issues having been solved by trade, the free market, and the power of individuals to innovate. But while he allows that government has done some good in the past, he views it historically as parasitic on the achievements of individuals. The fact that there have historically been more bad governments than good ones is no reason to give up on the attempt to form new ones that are better equipped to solve our problems.
Ridley predicts continuing growth, continuing adaptation of humans to changing environments, and increased prosperity as a result. While I agree that optimism is valuable, I think he downplays potential problems such as climate change that need to be rationally considered even while holding an overall optimistic attitude. Considering the numerous examples provided in this book of (pessimistic) predictions in the past that turned out to be wrong, the optimistic predictions should also be taken with a grain of salt.
Ultimately I think Ridley puts too much faith in the idea that what has always happened before will continue to happen in the future. For example, he doesn’t address concerns about the development of AI (although to be fair, this book was written in 2010, four years prior to Bostrom’s Superintelligence).
Again, I share the author’s overall optimistic outlook, and I think it’s appropriate given our history, but it’s also important to continue to think seriously about problems that have never been encountered before; after all, it’s by doing that, and not by passively waiting for someone else to work things out, that humans have achieved the many historical successes described in this book.
On the other hand, Ridley also has some positions I don’t entirely agree with, the most important being the criticality of climate change. He’s clearly done his research, and like many writers, he picks studies and anecdotes that fit his narrative - that the worst case scenarios for climate change are extremely unlikely, and that some of the steps being proposed to fight climate change are doing more harm than good. I appreciate reading work that challenges my preexisting opinions, but in this case, although I don’t have the background to argue against him, there are too many scientists who do for me to be swayed.
Ridley’s antipathy toward big government is also based on solid research, but in this case it’s primarily the history of what has worked and what hasn’t in the past. He makes an excellent case for the solutions to significant social issues having been solved by trade, the free market, and the power of individuals to innovate. But while he allows that government has done some good in the past, he views it historically as parasitic on the achievements of individuals. The fact that there have historically been more bad governments than good ones is no reason to give up on the attempt to form new ones that are better equipped to solve our problems.
Ridley predicts continuing growth, continuing adaptation of humans to changing environments, and increased prosperity as a result. While I agree that optimism is valuable, I think he downplays potential problems such as climate change that need to be rationally considered even while holding an overall optimistic attitude. Considering the numerous examples provided in this book of (pessimistic) predictions in the past that turned out to be wrong, the optimistic predictions should also be taken with a grain of salt.
Ultimately I think Ridley puts too much faith in the idea that what has always happened before will continue to happen in the future. For example, he doesn’t address concerns about the development of AI (although to be fair, this book was written in 2010, four years prior to Bostrom’s Superintelligence).
Again, I share the author’s overall optimistic outlook, and I think it’s appropriate given our history, but it’s also important to continue to think seriously about problems that have never been encountered before; after all, it’s by doing that, and not by passively waiting for someone else to work things out, that humans have achieved the many historical successes described in this book.
jimbrule's review against another edition
4.0
Well worth the read, but far from his best work. Gets a bit repetitive and pedantic, but there are important things worth knowing here. Certain to disturb people wherever they sit on the political spectrum!
brookeacacia's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
5.0
This is one of the best books I have EVER read.
ozzyfeeney's review against another edition
4.0
The central idea is conveyed well with the arch building up seamlessly from the dawn of the human species and growing it to its climax which is the human life today. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic when the scope of the lense is that wide but the book feels more like a book about the benefits of trade than that of human growth. Some issues are also skirted and avoided such as war, climate and Africa (although climate and Africa were indeed mentioned, the topics were merely skimmed compared to other topics such as Neolithic trade...) overall insightful but leaves one wanting for a better.
taylorheaney's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
My favorite book of the year! I listened on 1.7x the speed and it was perfect. Ridley explores so many great concepts about life, human history, and the future, weaving in optimism and economics at every point. Intriguing examples are provided within each chapter to build the arguments being made. I definitely recommend!