Abundance by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler

It took me ages to read this book because I wanted to remember all the detail, which of course I haven’t. It is too chock a block full! Abundance is a great antidote to the pessimism that grips my world. Its subtitle is ‘The future is better than you think’. His chief premise is that if you fix basic needs like water and food and health, then you fix problems like overpopulation and scarcity. And this can all be done through technology and technophilanthropists. The book begins with a fascinating discussion of perspective, which challenges our default position of negativity. I loved this part because it told me to wake up and get a grip. There follows a lot of fascinating detail about the problems facing the world and the technological solutions that are available and becoming available to resolve them, cheaply, simply, quickly. I loved the philosophical bent of this book too – it’s almost like a self help book on the power of positive thinking but with good reason: it’s the young and brave who solve the problems because they have unfailing belief in themselves and their ability to do it. I bought this book for several friends at Christmas. Enough said.