Today we have Matt Ridley on the podcast. Matt is the author of the recently-released How Innovation Works, as well as The Rational Optimist and several other books related to science and human progress, which have sold over a million copies. He is also a biologist, newspaper columnist, and member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom.

Topics
[01:37] What it means to be a rational optimist
[03:39] Evidence that the world is heading in the right direction
[05:43] Giving evidence-based hope
[11:23] Understanding the probabilities of life
[12:42] "It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you think you know that ain’t so"
[14:23] Why nuance is an endangered species
[16:28] The reward value to truthful or insightful information
[18:16] How not everybody is wired to create
[20:08] Working with restricted samples
[23:03] Does the lone genius really exist?
[26:43] Working with naturally occurring samples versus working with restricted samples
[32:10] Why stories don’t necessarily mean generalizable truths about innovation
[34:05] The need to look out for unexpected results
[35:00] Separating the person from the process
[36:02] The phenomenon of simultaneous inventions
[42:28] Why innovation requires freedom
[44:38] Why innovators crave the safe space to fail
[45:08] The government’s role in innovation
[49:47] Biology as the science of exceptions and not rules