At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It’s not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.  Currently also reading his book “The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves” – a history of challenges that wo(man)kind has faced over the years and overcome and forms the basis for a optimism into the future.