The provided text is an excerpt from Matt Ridley's book, "The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge". Ridley argues that many things in the world, from the development of morality to the creation of cities, have evolved over time through a process of trial and error, variation, and selection, much like the process of natural selection in biology. He challenges the traditional view that these things are the result of conscious planning or design, instead emphasizing the spontaneous and emergent nature of complex systems. The book explores a variety of topics, including the evolution of genes, language, cities, marriage, religion, leadership, technology, and economics. Ridley uses a diverse range of historical and scientific examples to illustrate his argument, and he makes a strong case for the power of unplanned and undirected processes to create order and progress in the world.