“Imagine you are a deer. You have essentially only four things to do during the day: sleep, eat, avoid being eaten and socialize (by which I mean mark a territory, pursue a member of the opposite sex, nurse a fawn, whatever). There is no real need to do much else. Now imagine you are a human being. Even if you only count the basic things, you have rather more than four things to do: sleep, eat, cook, dress, keep house, travel, wash, shop, work the list is virtually endless. Deer should therefore have more free time than human beings, yet it is people, not deer who find time to read, write, invent, sing and surf the net.” Or write this post.
Every time some tragic events surrounding our lives tend to cast a gloomy cloud on me, my hand goes to “the Rational Optimist,” a smart book by Matt Ridley, who believes there are many reasons to be optimistic about the human race.
In the words of Steven Pinker: “A delightful and fascinating book filled with insight and wit, which will make you think twice and cheer up.”