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A review by larsdhhedbor
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
5.0
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 refinement and improvement.
2. Trade leads to prosperity, and it is the single thing that separates modern human civilization from any other species - and from our own species' precarious status on this planet prior to the development of trade.
3. The human condition has been getting better since the dawn of history, and there is no reason to believe that it will do anything but continue to improve.
4. Every generation has had its doomsayers - and every single generation has found ways to change the preconditions upon which the doomsayers' predictions rested.
Extremely approachable, and highly enjoyable, this book will enable you to engage the world with a greater sense of optimism, and yes, even rationality.
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 refinement and improvement.
2. Trade leads to prosperity, and it is the single thing that separates modern human civilization from any other species - and from our own species' precarious status on this planet prior to the development of trade.
3. The human condition has been getting better since the dawn of history, and there is no reason to believe that it will do anything but continue to improve.
4. Every generation has had its doomsayers - and every single generation has found ways to change the preconditions upon which the doomsayers' predictions rested.
Extremely approachable, and highly enjoyable, this book will enable you to engage the world with a greater sense of optimism, and yes, even rationality.