TED Talk: Matt Ridley – “When ideas have sex”

I recently finished Matt Ridley’s book, The Rational Optimist. As I wrote here, ‘Molly Ivins said, “It’s hard to argue against cynics–they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side,” but she never met Matt Ridley, the Rational Optimist. He has evidence that says we need to keep going the way we’ve been going if we want to not simply survive but thrive. While [pessimists] tells us to slam on the brakes to keep the world from careening off the cliff; Ridley, with an Indiana Jones grins, says “Trust me. Floor the accelerator.”

Watch the video and you will have an idea of how the book argues against “self-sufficiency” and for greater specialization and interdependence.