John Douglas Arnold (born 1974) is an American billionaire, former hedge fund manager, and former natural gas trader. His firm, Centaurus Advisors, LLC, was a Houston-based hedge fund, composed of former Enron traders, that specialized in trading energy products. Arnold announced his retirement from running the hedge fund on May 2, 2012. Arnold now focuses on his political activism through Arnold Ventures LLC.
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
???If I could give each of you a graduation present, it would be this???the most inspiring book I’ve ever read.” ??? Bill Gates (May, 2017),A provocative history of violence???from the New York Times bestselling author of The Stuff of Thought, The Blank Slate, and Enlightenment Now.,Believe it or not, today we may be living in the most peaceful moment in our species’ existence. In his gripping and controversial new work, New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows that despite the ceaseless news about war, crime, and terrorism, violence has actually been in decline over long stretches of history. Exploding myths about humankind’s inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious book continues Pinker’s exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly enlightened world.
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The Rational Optimist
For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better; and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people’s lives as never before.,In his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history; from the Stone Age to the Internet. , will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.
