Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Why do we take progress for granted?
In this interview, The Rational Optimist author Matt Ridley walks us through the quiet miracle of human advancement, from lighting a room to transforming entire economies. He explains why pessimism about the future has been wrong for decades, and how innovation, trade, and idea exchange fuel prosperity around the world.
This is the story you’ve never been told about how the modern world came to be and why there’s every reason to believe it can keep getting better.
Featuring: @AuthorMattRidley, author of The Rational Optimist and How Innovation Works
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Why don’t rabbits experience prosperity?
0:30 – What we get wrong about pessimism and progress
0:52 – The hidden history of artificial light
2:30 – Specialization, exchange, and the miracle of trade
3:33 – A morning routine powered by global collaboration
4:14 – Why trade is older than farming. And more fundamental
4:41 – Innovation is bottom-up, not top-down
5:13 – Hope is a moral responsibility
5:44 — What to expect from the pave of innovation
Why do we take progress for granted?
In this interview, The Rational Optimist author Matt Ridley walks us through the quiet miracle of human advancement, from lighting a room to transforming entire economies. He explains why pessimism about the future has been wrong for decades, and how innovation, trade, and idea exchange fuel prosperity around the world.
This is the story you’ve never been told about how the modern world came to be and why there’s every reason to believe it can keep getting better.
Featuring: @AuthorMattRidley, author of The Rational Optimist and How Innovation Works
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Why don’t rabbits experience prosperity?
0:30 – What we get wrong about pessimism and progress
0:52 – The hidden history of artificial light
2:30 – Specialization, exchange, and the miracle of trade
3:33 – A morning routine powered by global collaboration
4:14 – Why trade is older than farming. And more fundamental
4:41 – Innovation is bottom-up, not top-down
5:13 – Hope is a moral responsibility
5:44 — What to expect from the pave of innovation
