Listen free for 30 days
-
Rational Optimist
- How Prosperity Evolves
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £14.49
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
How Innovation Works
- Serendipity, Energy and the Saving of Time
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Matt Ridley
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. It is innovation that will shape the 21st century. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike. Matt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan.
-
-
good but rather a political agenda
- By Olly Buxton on 09-12-20
-
Enlightenment Now
- The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred and irrationality. Yet, as Steven Pinker shows, if you follow the trendlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer and more prosperous - not just in the West but worldwide. Such progress is no accident: it's the gift of a coherent value system that many of us embrace without even realising it. These are the values of the Enlightenment: of reason, science, humanism and progress.
-
-
A must for everyone.
- By ANDREW NORRIS on 15-02-18
-
The Evolution of Everything: How Ideas Emerge
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are taught that the world is a top-down place. Generals win battles; politicians run countries; scientists discover truths; artists create genres; inventors make breakthroughs; teachers shape minds; philosophers change minds; priests teach morality; businessmen lead businesses; environmentalists save the planet.
-
-
Exceptional book.
- By Tinckelly on 07-11-15
-
Skin in the Game
- Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
- By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his most provocative and practical book yet, one of the foremost thinkers of our time redefines what it means to understand the world, succeed in a profession, contribute to a fair and just society, detect nonsense, and influence others. Citing examples ranging from Hammurabi to Seneca, Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows how the willingness to accept one's own risks is an essential attribute of heroes, saints, and flourishing people in all walks of life.
-
-
Another great work by Teleb
- By Tim on 05-03-18
-
Genome
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Paul Matthews
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Genome unravels the secrets of human nature without the usual reams of technical jargon. It shows outstanding breakthroughs in gene research, how we've gone from knowing almost nothing to knowing almost everything, and how our genes reveal more about our past, our evolution, and even our minds. Every important event in human history is written into our genes, whether it happened four billion or a few hundred years ago. All you need to know is where to look.
-
-
Mixed feelings about this book.
- By Earthmo on 18-12-20
-
The Tao of Seneca
- Practical Letters from a Stoic Master, Volume 1
- By: Seneca presented by Tim Ferriss Audio
- Narrated by: John A. Robinson
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Tao of Seneca (volumes 1-3) is an introduction to Stoic philosophy through the words of Seneca. If you study Seneca, you'll be in good company. He was popular with the educated elite of the Greco-Roman Empire, but Thomas Jefferson also had Seneca on his bedside table. Thought leaders in Silicon Valley tout the benefits of Stoicism, and NFL management, coaches, and players alike - from teams such as the Patriots and Seahawks - have embraced it.
-
-
I can only be honest...
- By Nero on 06-04-16
-
How Innovation Works
- Serendipity, Energy and the Saving of Time
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Matt Ridley
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. It is innovation that will shape the 21st century. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike. Matt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan.
-
-
good but rather a political agenda
- By Olly Buxton on 09-12-20
-
Enlightenment Now
- The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred and irrationality. Yet, as Steven Pinker shows, if you follow the trendlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer and more prosperous - not just in the West but worldwide. Such progress is no accident: it's the gift of a coherent value system that many of us embrace without even realising it. These are the values of the Enlightenment: of reason, science, humanism and progress.
-
-
A must for everyone.
- By ANDREW NORRIS on 15-02-18
-
The Evolution of Everything: How Ideas Emerge
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are taught that the world is a top-down place. Generals win battles; politicians run countries; scientists discover truths; artists create genres; inventors make breakthroughs; teachers shape minds; philosophers change minds; priests teach morality; businessmen lead businesses; environmentalists save the planet.
-
-
Exceptional book.
- By Tinckelly on 07-11-15
-
Skin in the Game
- Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
- By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his most provocative and practical book yet, one of the foremost thinkers of our time redefines what it means to understand the world, succeed in a profession, contribute to a fair and just society, detect nonsense, and influence others. Citing examples ranging from Hammurabi to Seneca, Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows how the willingness to accept one's own risks is an essential attribute of heroes, saints, and flourishing people in all walks of life.
-
-
Another great work by Teleb
- By Tim on 05-03-18
-
Genome
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Paul Matthews
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Genome unravels the secrets of human nature without the usual reams of technical jargon. It shows outstanding breakthroughs in gene research, how we've gone from knowing almost nothing to knowing almost everything, and how our genes reveal more about our past, our evolution, and even our minds. Every important event in human history is written into our genes, whether it happened four billion or a few hundred years ago. All you need to know is where to look.
-
-
Mixed feelings about this book.
- By Earthmo on 18-12-20
-
The Tao of Seneca
- Practical Letters from a Stoic Master, Volume 1
- By: Seneca presented by Tim Ferriss Audio
- Narrated by: John A. Robinson
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Tao of Seneca (volumes 1-3) is an introduction to Stoic philosophy through the words of Seneca. If you study Seneca, you'll be in good company. He was popular with the educated elite of the Greco-Roman Empire, but Thomas Jefferson also had Seneca on his bedside table. Thought leaders in Silicon Valley tout the benefits of Stoicism, and NFL management, coaches, and players alike - from teams such as the Patriots and Seahawks - have embraced it.
-
-
I can only be honest...
- By Nero on 06-04-16
-
The Beginning of Infinity
- Explanations That Transform the World
- By: David Deutsch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe.
-
-
Interesting, complex and sometimes flawed!
- By Jim Vaughan on 11-10-12
-
Reality Is Not What It Seems
- The Journey to Quantum Gravity
- By: Carlo Rovelli
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics comes a new audiobook about the mind-bending nature of the universe. What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what exactly is reality? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. Here he explains how our image of the world has changed throughout centuries.
-
-
Eye opening and mind expanding
- By Stefan Richter on 28-11-16
-
The Better Angels of Our Nature
- Why Violence Has Declined
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 36 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence.
-
-
A Magnum Opus in every sense!
- By Jeremy on 14-05-12
-
Sapiens
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us sapiens? In this bold and provocative audiobook, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here, and where we're going.
-
-
Simplistic nonsense
- By RTx on 14-07-19
-
The Sovereign Individual
- Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
- By: James Dale Davidson, Peter Thiel - preface, William Rees-Mogg
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the best seller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.
-
-
interesting ideas, strays a little
- By Anonymous User on 02-07-21
-
Six Easy Pieces
- Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher
- By: Richard P. Feynman
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Designed for non-scientists, Six Easy Pieces is an unparalleled introduction to the world of physics by one of the greatest teachers of all time.
-
-
essential Listening
- By RJM on 09-05-12
-
Be Your Future Self Now
- The Science of Intentional Transformation
- By: Dr. Benjamin Hardy
- Narrated by: Dr. Benjamin Hardy
- Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is your Future Self? That question is the answer to all your life's questions. When you know who you want to be, then you know what you're going to do today. That answer directly impacts how motivated you are, and how you feel about yourself. Your Future Self will not be the same person you are today. They will see the world differently. They'll also be in a different world—a world with different cultural values, different technologies and different challenges. Dr. Benjamin Hardy will show you how to allow your imagined Future Self to be the driver of your current reality.
-
-
On point
- By Made by the Chef on 04-08-22
-
Factfulness
- Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think
- By: Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of carrying only opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends - why the world's population is increasing; how many young women go to school; how many of us live in poverty - we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.
-
-
Not really suitable for an audio book
- By Mr. Philip Relph on 18-04-19
-
The Psychology of Money
- Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
- By: Morgan Housel
- Narrated by: Chris Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Money - investing, personal finance, and business decisions - is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money.
-
-
Quite disappointing
- By Lakshan on 31-12-20
-
Detroit
- A Biography
- By: Scott Martelle
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of Detroit, we think first of the auto industry and its slow, painful decline, then maybe the sounds of Motown, or the long line of professional sports successes. But economies are made up of people, and the effect of the economic downfall of Detroit is one of the most compelling stories in America. Detroit: A Biography by journalist and author Scott Martelle is about a city that rose because of the most American of traits - innovation, entrepreneurship, and an inspiring perseverance.
-
Apocalypse Never
- Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All
- By: Michael Shellenberger
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world’s last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today’s Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions. But in 2019, as some claimed "billions of people are going to die", contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction.
-
-
Finally a book that explains climate change
- By Amazon Customer on 28-07-20
-
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from 20 countries, ranging as far back as the 18th century, to uncover key economic and social patterns.
-
-
Great book - pity about the editing of the reading
- By Jeannie on 16-08-15
Summary
The Samuel Johnson Prize Shortlist Nominees 2011
Over 10,000 years ago, there were fewer than 10 million people on the planet. Today there are more than six billion, and 99 per cent of whom are better fed, better sheltered, better entertained, and better protected against disease than their Stone Age ancestors.
The availability of almost everything a person could want or need has been going erratically upwards for 10,000 years and has rapidly accelerated over the last 200 years: calories; vitamins; clean water; machines; privacy; the means to travel faster than we can run, and the ability to communicate over longer distances than we can shout. Yet, bizarrely, however much things improve from the way they were before, people still cling to the belief that the future will be nothing but disastrous.
In this original, optimistic book, Matt Ridley puts forward his surprisingly simple answer to how humans progress, arguing that we progress when we trade and we only really trade productively when we trust each other.
The Rational Optimist will do for economics what Genome did for genomics and will show that the answer to our problems, imagined or real, is to keep on doing what we've been doing for 10,000 years – to keep on changing.
More from the same
What listeners say about Rational Optimist
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- E. A. Williams
- 28-06-20
Hmmmmm .... vast fact-checking is required
I listened with interest (and much hope!) but was left with a lot of 'WHAaaaaT???' on parts where I am an Expert. That left me wanting to speak with a lot of other Experts to validate what appear to be Matt's 'opinions' in many cases, instead of fact-tested viewpoints.
I first became guarded when Matt revealed he was part of the Banking industry during the massive crash - he didn't (couldn't?) reveal whether he was a party-to-it or a whistleblower. But I think anyone who was a party-to that crash has to be someone who has lost their moral compass. I did then wonder when Matt appeared to justify the *horrendous* and a-moral conditions inflicted onto people during the industrial revolution as 'better than' the rural conditions they had arrived from and therefore justified. The question he asked the modern-day lady living in industrial squallor was a twisted question the only answer to which would validate his position. Whilst people *did* flock to industrialised areas to improve their monetary status, I'm not sure they believed the conditions inflicted - totally unnecessarily - upon them were 'ok'/an acceptable part of the bargain. I suggest reading 'Angel Meadow: Victorian Britain's Most Savage Slums' by Dean Kirby to fully understand what this inflicted-life looked like. And I don't believe *any* modern day worker living in industrial squalor would agree that living conditions couldn't be improved and are acceptable to them. Other industrialists like Samuel Greg, Titus Salt, William Lever proved there was a better way to do it that still made them vastly rich (*and even some of them didn't do it so well when you peer into the cracks; eg Samuel Greg was against the bill prohibiting under-age workers with the words 'The Devil makes work for idle hands'). And this is something modern day industrialists should think about - I have my own theory which is that modern day business leaders reduce the productivity of their workforce by *two-thirds* or even more (yep! Honestly), simply because of the way they treat them. And I've proved that repeatedly, over-and-over, in high-performing teams I've created in multiple large and small organisations throughout my career. The problem with modern business leaders is they are still stuck in an industrial revolution mentality.
I listened with interest to his environmental viewpoints but my gut was rather sceptical and I'd really want to justify what he says by speaking to some experts - what I don't agree with is his viewpoint that seems to suggest 'all environmental experts are wrong'. There is disagreement within the field as there is in any other, and I'd want to validate many of his comments.
But where my 'WHAaat??? That's absolute garbage!!' moment occurred was when he uses Y2K as an example of an 'and nothing happened/load of scaremongering'. My entire career has been in IT and, whilst Matt and the majority of others were out partying at the turn of the century, I - and many others - were working. Watching that all our hard work over many years *would* simply tick over the year as 'and nothing happened'. And, if that occurred - as it did - it would be the greatest triumph and the result of people working ludicrous numbers of hours over several years. I was *FUMING* at Matt's dismissive comments, and that has made me wonder about whether the rest of his views have left other Experts outraged.
Y2K is becoming like the moon-landings; where ignorant nay-sayers - who make statements but don't fact-check their tiny-brain-thoughts - start to dismiss it as nothing. There are comments like 'no-one could possibly check every single piece of machinery and software in the world!' ... well, they did. And the reason they did is that - although tiny-minds think that job is 'too big' - the top-bottom of the situation is *every single piece* of machinery and software in the world is manufactured and therefore has a root 'Owner'. The Y2K testing process was simple and went as follows - End-Users undertook testing from two angles: (1) full actual roll-forward testing in a lab-environment of as much of your own infrastructure as was possible, (2) obtaining Test Certification from the manufacturers of every piece of hardware/software in your organisation (*manufacturers were running roll-forward testing on everything they manufactured). If a manufacturer certified successful roll-forward testing, End-Users knew that part of their infrastructure was ok. Where there was a cut-off - things fell into a bracket of being too old to be tested, or they failed testing - End-Users had to rip-out/upgrade all those parts of their system. This is where the nay-sayers laugh and say 'rubbish! They just binned/replaced huge parts of ... 'X''. Well, that happened because if even one part of 'X' was found to fail, due to the timescales available (*it was probably the first Project in history that had an immovable end/Delivery date!) decisions were made to cast them into the 'bin/replace' bucket because time was not available to troubleshoot and fully test repairs. Where an upgraded version that had been tested/proven to successfully roll-forward was available, you don't tinker about with an old version. On the night of Y2K, all major manufacturers (including Microsoft, Cisco, Netware ... all major manufacturers including airline manufacturers, manufacturers of banking hardware/software - you name it) had set up dedicated help-desks where they expected to be swamped with calls about things not working. The *biggest* success of the Y2k project was that very little happened. We had one/two minor problems and I phoned our support desks and everyone was overjoyed that at the witching hour on the whole the phones had been silent. We jumped around rooms as did they; we ran outside and let off fireworks to celebrate 'nothing happened' not the turning of the century. Everything had been tested to within an inch of its life (because everything is manufactured and can be traced back to its source, and if certification couldn't be achieved it was ripped out or replaced - it's that simple) and all those years and hours of exceptionally hard work had paid off. Dismissing Y2K as one of the century's biggest cons is the biggest red-rag to my bull, and *immediately* shows a massive height of ignorance in people who express that stupid view - because it's easy to find the truth of what happened: just ask people like me.
And so ... this left me thinking if Matt could be so *incredibly* wrong about one small sentence in his book, what did my counterpart Experts on the other areas make of his views.
But all that said this is a good book/audio to listen to because we should all challenge our views - it is only by doing so that we actually find the truth. So I do recommend people to read/listen but then to fact-check through proper experts in the field. In terms of the audio, I wish I'd read the book ... sorry, L J Ganser sounded like a dodgy used car salesman/Computer salesman who read words from a script but have no idea what they mean. The audio would have been so much different if it had been read by someone who understood/believed in Matt's words. I'd suggest reading the book instead of listening to the audio.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Peter Kettle
- 19-06-11
Optimism makes sense
A book that will challenge and change your attitudes and opinions. Refreshing, forthright, and above all encouraging. All politicians should read it, but they won't dare to espouse it. Most people are 'part smart' and this book goes to the heart of so many issues. It takes a positive view of the world and the future, and is an antidote to the relentless pessimism we are being fed most of the time.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Pedro Molina Sanchez
- 07-03-11
A truly inspiring and uplifting story.
The rational optimist gives a thorough and fascinating account of the history of human progress. Moreover, it makes a extremely robust case for hoping that the best it is still yet to come thanks to the human promiscuity for exchange of ideas, goods, knowledge...
Full of arguments to use in fighting the pessimist waves that seems to inundate everyday conversations about progress and the future. Unmissable
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gloria Mason
- 13-05-21
Great Book, important information
This book is a must read to all people, is balanced and we'll researched. excellent!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Bartkeiwicz
- 19-04-21
A breath of fresh perspective
A great book to read in today's pessimistic world, great analysis of today's major chalnnages and how we can solve
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- alexmews
- 10-04-21
Rational optimism. A tonic for our times
Listened to this a year into the pandemic and as Uk prepares to host CoP 26.
Will society embrace the innovation required to grow and lift millions from poverty as Lord Ridley suggests and hopes? I hope so but fear not.
Some great ideas in this book and some great tools and data to pave the way. Let’s hope post CV19 the ‘new normal’ embraces innovation, free exchange and commerce - not regulation, central planning and authoritarianism.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 03-02-20
I'm an Optimist
An excellent listen, book covers a variety of topics and looks at our current world using the past as perspective. Positivity is vest. A must listen.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DL Williams
- 28-12-19
Excellent
A very informative and insightful view into the human existence thought-out time past, present and predicted future. The narrator's tone of voice very compelling that keeps you listening to the very end.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David
- 07-01-19
Adictiive listen
Outlines a robust pattern in human progress that gives one a greater belief in the future of mankind. Despite of all the worlds bad actors.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Judy Corstjens
- 17-06-14
Could have been even better
This is a great subject - why we should be optimistic about the future, after all, the human race has not done too badly so far, from hot baths to antibiotics - and there is much to enjoy in this book. I was particularly amused by the section that reviewed calamities that never happened (e.g. acid rain, Y2 bug, Malthusian starvation). There is also a serious and thoughtful message about eco-friendliness and 'green' politics: technology and going forward may be a better solution than trying to put the clock back to an idyllic rural past that never really did or can exist. Green policies, driven by emotions, can lead to mistakes and errors (e.g. the disaster of bio-fuels and the folly of wind farms). However, I also found the book rambled a bit and would be improved by a good edit. Also, some of the material seemed a bit derivative – but it was possibly just out of date, since the book was written in 2008. I have read several books in recent years - Pinker's 'Better Angels' and 'Why Nations Fail' that cover many of Ridley's points, but a do a better job.
Narration: Awful! Matt Ridley mentions in the book that he 'grew up in London in the 1970s' He does not, therefore, have a grating American accent. I could not get over this contradiction. I like it when the author reads - Tony Blair, George Bush, Sarah Palin, Christopher Hitchens - but if you don't have the skills to do that then get somebody who sounds like the author would. Am I bigoted to want that?
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- N
- 21-08-18
Strong opinions
Strong opinions, some challenging and interesting, some hackneyed and now proven wrong. Overall I feel it was worth listening to.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tim
- 21-02-18
If you're pessimistic, this is a required read.
This book is so bloody good I wrote this review. (the first of 73- had to check my stats). 👌
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kindle Customer
- 25-09-16
Excellent
Good story and narration. challenges one to be optimistic in thinking. nice detailing of history given. loved it.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Stephen
- 13-01-15
Such a welcome perspective!
Thoroughly interesting, well researched and intelligently presented perspective. I shall be considering and further studying the information given in this book for a fair while.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David
- 11-12-13
Breathtakingly Hypocritical
This book was highly recommended by a friend. Despite a persuasive argument, Ridley's book cannot be considered in the absence of context, for Ridley chaired the English bank Northern Rock, a bank which, due to its high-risk lending practices, went to the wall during the GFC with red ink to the tune of twenty-some billion UK pounds, and was subsequently nationalised to prevent a 'run' on the banks and the collapse of the British financial system. Thus, while I'm a conservative who is naturally sceptical of the size and role of government in virtually every economy, I find it extremely ironical that Ridley, at the outset, states that he cannot refer to the collapse of Northern Rock 'for legal reasons' yet it is, in the style of other libertarians such as Ayn Rand, the free market which serves as the bedrock for virtually every subsequent argument. Ridley should have withdrawn the book and rewritten it in the very context of his own aristocratic background (he is now a Viscount!) and on the basis of the events which occurred at the bank of which he was Chair. In addition, I would have thought a UK narrator more preferable to a US narrator given Ridley's own background. With reality incorporated into the narrative rather than rationality, Ridley may have been onto something.
1 person found this helpful