200 Books

This volume by Matt Ridley was quite fun to read.  I thoroughly enjoyed his upbeat perspective on the possible (and indeed probable) future of mankind.  His voice is a healthily contrarian one in the midst of a world full of doomsday prophets.

He was hesitant to do more than sketch of suggest what this optimistic future might look like, but confident in predicting it given the way prosperity has improved throughout human history.  The man is a thoroughly committed libertarian with a Darwinian foundation.  While I disagree with his evolutionary philosophy, that does little to alter my basic agreement with his premise (life is getting better for humanity as a whole) and his conclusion (it will continue to do so: climate change and population growth be damned).

Just imagine if this guy got grabbed by a good Reformed Amillieniallist?

The best part of the book is how evident his delight in ingenuity and inventiveness is.  I also appreciate his phrase  and chapter title: “When Ideas Have Sex”.  This opens up new avenues of gender theorizing to my mind.  Is innovation inherently masculine?  And entrepreneurship inherently feminine?  Are think tanks sex clubs for the intellect?  And is business school more like midwifery training or actual gestation?  I think I need to stretch this metaphor even further…

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