I deliberately talk about innovation rather than invention because I think we've talked a lot about inventors,

about brilliant people who come up with bright ideas that change the world.

I want to talk about innovation, which is the process by which a bright idea is turned into something practical,

reliable and available and affordable for ordinary people.

And that's a long slog and it's a lot of hard work and it's often more important,

more difficult than the process of coming up with a good idea in the first place.

Welcome to the Knowledge Project Podcast. I'm your host Shane Parrish.

This podcast sharpens your mind by helping you master the best what other people have already figured out.

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Today I'm speaking with Matt Ridley. Matt's the author of How Innovation Works,

The Rational Optimist, The Red Queen, and several other books related to science and human progress.

He's also a biologist, newspaper columnist, and member of the House of Lords in the UK.

This episode touches on how Matt came to write books about science, the age-old battle between viruses and humans,

rational optimism, the difference between innovation and invention, the myth of great people,

the role of trial and error, why pockets of innovation happen in geographic concentration,

and the effect of social media on seeing other people's point of view. It's time to listen and learn.

The Knowledge Project is sponsored by Metalab.

For a decade, Metalab has helped some of the world's top companies and entrepreneurs build products

that millions of people use every day. You probably didn't realize it at the time,

but odds are you've used an app that they've helped design or build, apps like Slack, Coinbase,

...