Ideas have sex, in Ridley's schema; they follow a process of natural selection
of their own, and as long as they continue to do so, there is reason to retire
apocalyptic pessimism about the future of our species. Erstwhile zoologist,
conservationist, and journalist, Ridley (The Red Queen) posits that as long as
civilization engages in exchange and specialization, we will be able to reinvent
ourselves and responsibly use earthly resources ad infinitum. Humanity's collective
intelligence will save the day, just as it has over the centuries. Ridley puts
current perceptions about violence, wealth, and the environment into historical
perspective, reaching back thousands of years to advocate global free trade,
smaller government, and the use of fossil fuels. He confidently takes on the
experts, from modern sociologists who fret over the current level of violence in
the world to environmentalists who disdain genetically modified crops. An ambitious
and sunny paean to human ingenuity, this is an argument for why ambitious optimism
is morally mandatory.

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