Whenever you feel like the world is going to hell in the proverbial handbasket, come back to read this book. It points at all the good ways in which it's changing, and how despite all our challenges, it's not as bleak as some might be led to believe. Not a feel-good book, but after you realize how we're advancing in a number of fields, you will feel better.

Peter Diamandis reports on, and believes in, the medical, technological and societal changes that every now and then pop above the line of invisible development to disrupt and upend, in a positive way, many of the things we took for granted that would forever be this way. ( )

Weird time to read a book that is so optimistic about the future, given the current dire state of affairs politically, where a fascist like Donald Trump may become President, and at the bookstore and cineplex, where people who don't even really know what dystopia means other than as a genre to be capitalized (I like Dystopian....) flock to the latest fiction where the world has Done Gone To Hell in record numbers. Not sure if I'm totally buying it, but then again, as a human, I'm wired to engage in any number of pessimistic and illogical misperceptions of reality, according to the book. This why people say the world is going down the tubes when it is not, the book argues. I hope the state of abundance comes true. ( )

It's optimism unbridled by any sort of criticism. The irony that in this same book the author warns against confirmation and availability bias is sublime. The level of delusion is explained by the author's position. He is an extremely intelligent man who routinely hangs around the smartest people on the planet and spends most of his time on pioneering projects so obviously his world view is a little skewed. He also uses the line that should be a capital offence: "this is already possible to do with off-the-shelf components". And OLPC was not a success regardless of how many times the author repeats the claim. A few other projects he mentions were also less successful than the book's description would lead you to believe. All this is needlessly dishonest. ( )

Written in 2012, it makes you excited for the future, and then you wonder why some of the items described aren't everywhere yet.... Like always, it will come, but a watched kettle never boils... ( )

Perhaps not a bad book, but definitely not what I was looking for.

I'm sympathetic to the book's thesis: that technological and social progress can overcome many of the seemingly insurmountable problems facing the world today, such as hunger, illiteracy, and above all resource scarcity.

But ultimately I found this to be a thin, too-breezy take on this vital question. The authors offer a relentless array of examples and anecdotes about dramatic advances that are *just around the corner* from transforming the world, but not a rigorous argument as to why the massive changes they predict will actually occur. Objections, pitfalls and side effects are ignored or waved aside in a few passing remarks and a brief appendix. Too much of the book seemed to be Diamandis and his techno-philantropist friends talking about all the cool things they're doing.

At the root of my distaste for the book is probably a disconnect between the authors' goal and my goal as a reader. They were trying to inculcate optimism in readers and counter pessimistic, Malthusian takes on modern society. I wanted a serious discussion of ideas: what does history show about human socioeconomic progress? To what degree can we expect those trends to continue into the future, and to what degree can we expect something different? What have been the costs of "progress" in the past and what does this teach us about what we can expect going forward? How does technology affect, and how is it affected by, culture and politics? What new breakthroughs will likely have the biggest impacts, or could have such an impact if things previously thought impossible become possible?

If you're not looking for a book of intellectual futurism, "Abundance" may be more to your liking than mine. As it happens, I've read a number of books that were more in line with my desires (something that probably contributed to my dislike of "Abundance" — I might have liked it more if I'd read it at the beginning of my education). Among those still very accessible books I'd recommend for readers with an interest in the subject: Alvin Toffler's [b:The Third Wave|67482|The Third Wave|Alvin Toffler|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387744496s/67482.jpg|65446], Steven Pinker's [b:The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined|11107244|The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined|Steven Pinker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1311281857s/11107244.jpg|16029496], Robert Wright's [b:Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny|1124380|Nonzero The Logic of Human Destiny|Robert Wright|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320391999s/1124380.jpg|820748], Amartya Sen's [b:Development as Freedom|173961|Development as Freedom|Amartya Sen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320411543s/173961.jpg|168039] and [b:The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All The Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better|10276354|The Great Stagnation How America Ate All The Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better|Tyler Cowen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1296495889s/10276354.jpg|15176955]. ( )