How prosperity evolves...

I am reading Matt Ridley's latest book "The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves."  Ridley argues that humans developed a capacity for trade long before the advent of agriculture.  It is in our nature.  There is no tribe on earth that doesn't engage in trade and commerce.  He says that it is incredibly patronizing to suggest that westerners have markets and commerce and that other people's just give each other gives to lubricate social cohesion.  After almost a million years of gene culture co-evolution, humans can hardly survive without trading things and ideas.  A great example of this was the Tasmanians.  After 1000s of years of isolation they lost all of their technology till they had no better tools than Neanderthals.  Ridley points out that the capacity for advanced technology lies in the collective brain, not in individuals.  Without the ability to trade with their neighbors, Tasmanians could not tap this collective brain.  As a result, their technology withered and dwindled.
I am only about a 4th of the way through so more to come.  Cool stuff!