The Rational Optimist
Matt Ridley's case that trade and specialization, not intelligence, drove human progress
Ridley's claim is that prosperity comes from exchange between specialists rather than from any group getting smarter, and he runs the argument from prehistory to the present. Along the way he takes apart most standard accounts of decline. This is the popular-science end of his work. Readers usually meet it alongside Genome and The Red Queen. Critics say he applies the optimism unevenly, on climate in particular; supporters say the historical case for compounding trade holds either way.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Naval RavikantRecommends
Angel investor · AngelList and the Naval podcast
Everything Matt Ridley has written gets his recommendation, he says, and he names this one alongside Genome, The Red Queen and Origins of Virtue. Ridley is where he goes for the evolution and progress material.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show transcript: Naval Ravikant
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Book entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.