Ep151 "Can One Be a Rational Optimist About the World?" with Matt Ridley

About this episode

David Eagleman and Matt Ridley discuss the concept of rational optimism and its implications for innovation and perception of the future.

Why do we generally feel like the world is getting worse, when by almost all measures it’s getting better? How do ideas "have sex”, and why does that matter for innovation? Why do brains tend to systematically misread the future? What if optimism is a more rational stance than pessimism? If innovation isn’t primarily about lone geniuses, what’s it really about? Join Eagleman with scientist and author Matt Ridley to explore what it means to be, in Ridley’s phrasing, a "rational optimist".

People in this episode

Host: David Eagleman

Guest: Matt Ridley

Topics covered

• optimism
• innovation
• cognitive biases
• rationality
• future outlook

Keywords

• rational optimist
• innovation
• cognitive biases
• future
• pessimism
• world improvement

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