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The Rational Optimist
24 recommendations

The Rational Optimist

How Prosperity Evolves (P.S.)

by Matt Ridley

Bill GatesNaval RavikantJordan Peterson
Recommended by Bill Gates, Naval Ravikant +
10 more

More Recommenders

Jordan Peterson

Clinical psychologist and author

Marc Andreessen

Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz

Mark Zuckerberg

Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Meta Platforms

Recommended by 12 notable people, including Bill Gates and Naval Ravikant

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Recommended by public sources

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Reading Profile

Length:Medium(450 pages)

Should I read this?

Recommended by 24 sources and appears in Economics, Books Recommended by Bill Gates, and Books Recommended by CEOs.

Matt Ridley, acclaimed author of the classics Genome and Nature via Nurture, turns from investigating human nature to investigating human progress. In The Rational Optimist Ridley offers a counterblast to the prevailing pessimism of our age, and proves, however much we like to think to the contrary, that things are getting better.

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Why recommended

Recommended by 24 sources and appears in Economics, Books Recommended by Bill Gates, and Books Recommended by CEOs.

Recommended by notable people

People and public figures who have recommended this book.

Recommendation Signals

Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.

N

Nick Szabo

Recommended this book

80%
R

Rupert Murdoch

Recommended this book

80%

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Appears In

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Try This Instead

Not sure if this is the right fit?

Consider The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Recommended by 8 sources.

Soft-spoken, heavily illustrated fable built from short dialogues and watercolor sketches. Each spread pairs a spare line of text with a loose drawing, so the pleasure is visual and aphoristic rather than narrative; readers collect felt-true sentences more than plot. Most useful when you want quick consolations, a prompt for conversation with a child, or a pause during a rough day. Limiting if you want sustained argument, concrete advice, or tightly plotted storytelling: the repetition of gentleness can feel sentimental or thin after a while.

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How recommendation signals are reviewed

Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.

The Rational Optimist

The Rational Optimist

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