Once in a while, you come across a book that causes you to reevaluate the way you view the world. The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley is definitely one of those books. Fascinating and enlightening read.
Thank you @naval for the recommendation.
12 insights from the book π§΅
Thank you @naval for the recommendation.
12 insights from the book π§΅
1) Human progress has, on balance, been a good thing, and that, despite the constant temptation to moan, the world is as good a place to live as it has ever been for the average human being.
That it is richer, healthier, and kinder too.
That it is richer, healthier, and kinder too.
2) Somebody, somewhere, is still tweaking a piece of software, testing a new material, or transferring a gene that will make your and my life easier in the future.
3) Innovation Networks:
Human beings learn skills from each other by copying prestigious individuals, and they innovate by making mistakes that are very occasionally improvements β that is how culture evolves.
Human beings learn skills from each other by copying prestigious individuals, and they innovate by making mistakes that are very occasionally improvements β that is how culture evolves.
4) Human history is driven by a co-evolution of rules and tools.
The increasing specialization of the human species, and the enlarging habit of exchange, are the root cause of innovation in both.
The increasing specialization of the human species, and the enlarging habit of exchange, are the root cause of innovation in both.
5) The great question is now at issue whether man shall henceforth stat forwards with accelerated velocity towards illimitable, and hitherto unconceived improvement; or to be condemned to a perpetual oscillation between happiness and misery.
(T. R. Malthus)
(T. R. Malthus)
6) Human history is a tale of progressively discovering and diverting sources of energy to support human lifestyle.
Energy isnβt the problem. Energy is the solution.
Energy isnβt the problem. Energy is the solution.
7) The more you prosper, the more you can prosper.
The more you invent, the more inventions become possible.
The dissemination of useful knowledge causes that useful knowledge to breed more useful knowledge.
The more you invent, the more inventions become possible.
The dissemination of useful knowledge causes that useful knowledge to breed more useful knowledge.
8) People embrace technological change and hate it at the same time. People donβt like change, and the notion that technology is exciting is true for only a handful of people.
The rest are depressed or annoyed by the changes.
(Michael Crichton)
The rest are depressed or annoyed by the changes.
(Michael Crichton)
9) Throughout history, though living standards might rise and fall, though population might boom and crash, knowledge was one thing that has shown inexorable upward progress.
10) The wonderful thing about knowledge is that it is genuinely limitless.
There is not even a theoretical possibility of exhausting the supply of ideas, discoveries, and inventions.
Yet if innovation is limitless, why is everybody so pessimistic about the future?
There is not even a theoretical possibility of exhausting the supply of ideas, discoveries, and inventions.
Yet if innovation is limitless, why is everybody so pessimistic about the future?
11) A million years of natural selection shaped human nature to be ambitious to rear successful children, not to settle for contentment: people are programmed to desire, not to appreciate.
The big gains in happiness come from living in a society that frees you to make choices about your lifestyle.
The big gains in happiness come from living in a society that frees you to make choices about your lifestyle.
12) History repeats itself as a spiral not a circle, with an ever-growing capacity for both good and bad, played out through unchanging individual character.
The twenty-first century will be a magnificent time to be alive.
Dare to be an optimist!
The twenty-first century will be a magnificent time to be alive.
Dare to be an optimist!
Thank you for going through the thread. Follow me at @readswithravi for more book learning, reviews, lessons and recommendations. Teach or share with others what you learn, that's how we grow.
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