The Rational Optimist
Description
Life is getting better-and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down - all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before. The pessimists who dominate public discourse insist that we will soon reach a turning point and things will start to get worse. But they have been saying this for two hundred years. Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization-which started more than 100,000 years ago-has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair. This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the twenty-first century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.
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ISBN:
9780062025371
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 5c499980-c573-b049-7339-dae93ec2b8bf |
---|---|
Grouping Title | rational optimist |
Grouping Author | matt ridley |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2023-11-23 02:33:59AM |
Last Indexed | 2024-05-01 04:23:17AM |
Solr Fields
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author
Ridley, Matt
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hoopla digital
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Ridley, Matt
display_description
Life is getting better-and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down - all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before. The pessimists who dominate public discourse insist that we will soon reach a turning point and things will start to get worse. But they have been saying this for two hundred years. Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization-which started more than 100,000 years ago-has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair. This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the twenty-first century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.
format_catalog
eBook
format_category_catalog
eBook
id
5c499980-c573-b049-7339-dae93ec2b8bf
isbn
9780062025371
last_indexed
2024-05-01T11:23:17.455Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
primary_isbn
9780062025371
publishDate
2010
publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Electronic books
title_display
The Rational Optimist
title_full
The Rational Optimist [electronic resource] / Matt Ridley
title_short
The Rational Optimist
topic_facet
Electronic books
Solr Details Tables
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record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT12390156 | eBook | eBook | English | HarperCollins Publishers | 2010 | 1 online resource (480 pages) |
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Bib Id | Item Id | Grouped Status | Status | Locally Owned | Available | Holdable | Bookable | In Library Use Only | Library Owned | Holdable PTypes | Bookable PTypes | Local Url |
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