The Rational Optimist

This book by Matt Ridley was genuinely recommended once in the episodes we index, on Tim Ferriss. The people who vouched for it on air: Naval Ravikant. It comes up in conversations about meditation & mindfulness, productivity & performance. Every quote below is verbatim, attributed, and linked to the exact second it was said. Sourced expert opinion, not medical advice.

The "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Genome" and "The Red Queen" offers a provocative case for an economics of hope, arguing that the benefits of commerce, technology, innovation, and change--cultural evolution--will inevitably increase human prosperity.

• “genome the Red Queen the origins of virtue the rational optimist they're all great”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “they're all great”
  Naval Ravikant · The Tim Ferriss Show · Jun 202000:25:58

  Said during "Tribe of Mentors, Naval Ravikant, Susan Cain, and Yuval Noah Harari | The Tim Ferriss Show". The episode features Naval Ravikant, Susan Cain, and Yuval Noah Harari: A compilation of three Tribe of Mentors profiles. Naval Ravikant is CEO and co-founder of AngelList and a prolific angel investor; Susan Cain is the bestselling author of Quiet and co-founder of Quiet Revolution; Yuval Noah Harari is a historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and author of Sapiens and Homo Deus. Tim Ferriss introduces Tribe of Mentors, then shares profiles of Naval Ravikant, Susan Cain, and Yuval Noah Harari.