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Ideas Having Sex?

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    Matt Ridley, “The Rational Optimist” author, on how ideas mold together to make our world a better place to live.

  • Duration 8:55
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Right it -- so let's go to the man I learned from British journalist Matt Ridley.

So you say the reason life gets better is because ideas that affect have sex.

Ideas spread through exchange and and -- and when they meet they can mate and you can produce combinations of different ideas.

My favorite example is.

Camera pill which takes a picture of your insides of the way through it came and came about after a conversation between and Castro into religious man guided missile -- And this is a process very similar to sex in biology because.

Through sex jeans meat and re combined and you get new combinations of jeans and it's exactly and that's what causes innovation in biology.

And the meeting and making of ideas causes innovation and culture now the genes don't have brain sometimes the -- meat and you get.

Something worse -- mutations are bad.

That's certainly true and it's a true with us to you can combine to I didn't come -- with a worse idea.

But then.

Nobody picks it up nobody takes it on if you come up with a better idea it spreads and so the good ideas spread at the expense of the bad ideas.

And that the re combining of ideas and what we're doing all the time in the -- we tried the more we exchange the more that happens.

And the better life gets in general.

Absolutely I mean are living standards have shot up in my lifetime you know the average income of the average person corrected for inflation is three times what it was when I was Goldman life -- is that if some longer and child mortality is two thirds -- that's because we keep improving.

Each other's living standards.

So you like to show people this picture let's put that -- -- at least two effects.

Though the object on the left is an -- way -- and acts for about half a million years ago.

It sits on my desk ahead of this -- hand acts and right next to it sits the computer -- and lessening its one day that are exactly the same size and shape.

-- -- -- -- He's it was my turn on varying designs half a million -- that you know they didn't change the design didn't have innovation in those days.

And is made from a single substance where is the most.

Is made from a whole.

Bunch of different substances plastic and metal and so on.

And it combines different ideas ideas that -- to different people in different times in different places and -- will come together in this technology and that's.

How we.

A better off than home directors since we've got these combinations of ideas.

And the -- improve so often that the one I have a few years ago is already out of date.

You know that one that I took a picture of with the and acts are no longer use it.

Now this works through free exchange of ideas it doesn't work if there's central planning.

And exactly one of the things about the way ideas come together and -- combined is that it actually.

Creates things that none greater than the sum of its parts that and things we don't really understand.

You know nobody knows how to make -- computer mouse.

You know I'm quoting from somebody knows I have.

I have a computer mouse -- that no one person no one person exactly the knowledge is she had among lots of different people misses the insides of -- read the economist 1950s when he said nobody knows how to make a pencil.

Because it it it's a collective brain that the -- these these things.

And that means that when you try and substitution individual intelligence by putting a man in charge of -- amounts manufacture.

He can't do as good a -- -- the collection of -- working together with each other each -- a little bits of the picture.

Because the computer announced may have parts from China and India and the United States and hundreds of different people on the person who ships sit and puts -- in the box.

Yet not been a million people might contribute to their -- I think it probably isn't million because when you think about -- is -- -- working for me when they may did because his mind -- us.

And -- you've -- to include the guy in Brazil who is growing coffee that would be -- by the guy on the oil rig was drilling for oil whose oil will be used in the plastics factory its entrance after.

You know they were all working for -- in making this thing and actually that's the beauty of the system we've created.

Is that we work for each other role of time where each other solvents.

Though nobody's bought sing -- people are -- it's all volunteer.

That's right nobody forces you -- by computer about -- nobody forced the guy who was making the mass -- to work for me.

Hold me to work for him because I'm we're giving him just disease because because I had the money to two from from my work because it would -- by the most often.

And you argue that even if it's don't people getting together and having their ideas have sex.

That comes up with a better results than the brilliant central planner well.

Well I think that this is -- the obsession with.

IQ and whether some groups have -- IQ than others his mistake.

That is to say is if you look at its.

Human history you move -- organization.

Lots of people in -- room who -- talking to each other however stupid.

Can achieve a lot more than a lot of clever people in the room and have a talk to each other so it's not individual intelligence that counts and how well society works its.

How will people communicate and exchange ideas -- be China.

And let's look at the result you mention higher living standards longer life spans let's take a one of the richest people in the world at the time Louis the fourteenth.

His life at the time was wonderful.

Louis the fourteenth have 498.

People to -- his dinner every night coating to some.

Biography -- -- let's say 500.

But you know.

You've got 500 people preparing -- dinner tonight therein beast doesn't cafes and restaurants and shops eleven towns in fact it's probably about a -- Louis the fourteenth time because he probably didn't have -- is very -- many probably had Salmonella -- more often than -- Plus I have air conditioning and flush toilets and lots of things he didn't have all because of the invisible hand if you took -- and salary back before he is and tried to you know and -- time traveled back to the 1960s.

You'd be.

Reaches a king competitor than anyone else.

But however -- you are you still couldn't buy a really good -- today from cafe coffee vendor in the street.

You couldn't have wheels and you'll -- -- you couldn't get a mobile phone signal.

So there's there's a whole tonne of things that that life is improved even over and above.

You know monetary improvements.

So because of this you call yourself the rational optimist he wrote a book put their title is fed up with the pessimists at me when I was a student in the 1970s the -- told me that the -- future of the world was bleak that the oil was running out of the population explosion was on stop.

Noble Paul Carroll -- -- quarter book the population bomb.

Race to oblivion the scientific experts in 1972 wrote the limits of growth.

The world what -- of oil by 1990.

Two by nature natural gas 94 below would it would be all gone by 2003.

And sell off.

That's right all these predictions that were made in the -- -- and I believe them.

And a lot of people are -- -- I believe that it that it was overrun with help -- world was trickling up and go away.

And and -- ought to feel kind of.

-- slip that nobody said anything optimistic to me about how these -- is might not run out they might become more abundant because of human ingenuity.

They might actually get -- rather -- more expensive.

And that it might be possible for us to live high living standards and actually do less damage to the environment as we do you said that us cities might get the am -- getting -- -- rivers -- get cleaner.

I'm all of these things have happened we've got healthier happier.

Tina kinda clever.

-- peaceful and indeed Lori -- if you look good the picture globally.

Over that time.

Because ideas had sex now Bill Gates criticized decide this optimism saying mr.

Ridley fails to see.

That worrying about the worst case.

Can actually help drive a solution.

And you know what I didn't think that's really true if you look at where the solutions come from they come from optimistic people.

Living in rich places like Steve Jobs so.

Total I'll keep -- eighties in ancient Greece -- and Leonardo in Renaissance Italy these are not people driven by desperation driven by worry.

In fact.

We think it's the pessimists who -- the complacent ones these days because they're the ones saying.

You know this is is good does it can get we can't make it any better -- -- not turn trying having new technologies we better be careful not to have.

Genetically modified foods or whatever it was in case that that's.

Exciting case -- worse than and usage -- technology.

I -- -- think this world is great.

But it's -- value of two years compared with what we could achieve.

And may very well achieve for including genetically modified true so thank you Matt Ridley coming up who --

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