Nonfiction

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

  • Downloads：9791
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-05-19 08:54:48
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Nassim Nicholas Taleb
  • ISBN：0812979680
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

Antifragile is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series， an investigation of opacity， luck， uncertainty， probability， human error， risk， and decision-making in a world we don’t understand。 The other books in the series are Fooled by Randomness， The Black Swan， and The Bed of Procrustes。

Nassim Nicholas Taleb， the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost thinkers of our time， reveals how to thrive in an uncertain world。
 
Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension， and rumors or riots intensify when someone tries to repress them， many things in life benefit from stress， disorder， volatility， and turmoil。 What Taleb has identified and calls “antifragile” is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish。 
 
In The Black Swan， Taleb showed us that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world。 In Antifragile， Taleb stands uncertainty on its head， making it desirable， even necessary， and proposes that things be built in an antifragile manner。 The antifragile is beyond the resilient or robust。 The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better。
 
Furthermore， the antifragile is immune to prediction errors and protected from adverse events。 Why is the city-state better than the nation-state， why is debt bad for you， and why is what we call “efficient” not efficient at all？ Why do government responses and social policies protect the strong and hurt the weak？ Why should you write your resignation letter before even starting on the job？ How did the sinking of the Titanic save lives？ The book spans innovation by trial and error， life decisions， politics， urban planning， war， personal finance， economic systems， and medicine。 And throughout， in addition to the street wisdom of Fat Tony of Brooklyn， the voices and recipes of ancient wisdom， from Roman， Greek， Semitic， and medieval sources， are loud and clear。
 
Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world。
 
Erudite， witty， and iconoclastic， Taleb’s message is revolutionary: The antifragile， and only the antifragile， will make it。

Praise for Antifragile
 
“Ambitious and thought-provoking 。 。 。 highly entertaining。”—The Economist
 
“A bold book explaining how and why we should embrace uncertainty， randomness， and error 。 。 。 It may just change our lives。”—Newsweek
 
“Revelatory 。 。 。 [Taleb] pulls the reader along with the logic of a Socrates。”—Chicago Tribune
 
“Startling 。 。 。 richly crammed with insights， stories， fine phrases and intriguing asides 。 。 。 I will have to read it again。 And again。”—Matt Ridley， The Wall Street Journal
 
“Trenchant and persuasive 。 。 。 Taleb’s insatiable polymathic curiosity knows no bounds。 。 。 。 You finish the book feeling braver and uplifted。”—New Statesman
 
“Antifragility isn’t just sound economic and political doctrine。 It’s also the key to a good life。”—Fortune
 
“At once thought-provoking and brilliant。” —Los Angeles Times


From the Hardcover edition。

Download

Reviews

Tiffany Wu ，

Interesting concepts， good for flipping throughAntifragility is an interesting concept and way to look at various aspects of life。 I learned a lot from this book。 The way I enjoyed it the most is by speed reading。 Some parts can get long， confusing， and derailing， which is why I give it 4 stars。 I would be curious to read more of this author's work but will probably speed read them。 Interesting concepts， good for flipping throughAntifragility is an interesting concept and way to look at various aspects of life。 I learned a lot from this book。 The way I enjoyed it the most is by speed reading。 Some parts can get long， confusing， and derailing， which is why I give it 4 stars。 I would be curious to read more of this author's work but will probably speed read them。 。。。more

Nick ，

An intriguing， imperfect book。 The author has some fascinating ideas that I've never even considered before， but the reader needs to read between the lines of the author's strong biases and dismissals of counter-arguments。 A great book to plant the seeds of new ideas， but not to validate existing ones。 An intriguing， imperfect book。 The author has some fascinating ideas that I've never even considered before， but the reader needs to read between the lines of the author's strong biases and dismissals of counter-arguments。 A great book to plant the seeds of new ideas， but not to validate existing ones。 。。。more

PK ，

Now and then， someone challenges the status quo and with good reason。 NNT does this in wholesale and with flair。 Only he can talk about love and terrorism in the same breath - both somehow grow exponentially if suppressed。 Both in that sense are antifragile， gaining from disorder。 NNT then goes on to question almost everything in life on the basis of fragility and strangely makes a lot of sense。 His idea that a tinkerer is the most antifragile thing possible and nature being the greatest tinkere Now and then， someone challenges the status quo and with good reason。 NNT does this in wholesale and with flair。 Only he can talk about love and terrorism in the same breath - both somehow grow exponentially if suppressed。 Both in that sense are antifragile， gaining from disorder。 NNT then goes on to question almost everything in life on the basis of fragility and strangely makes a lot of sense。 His idea that a tinkerer is the most antifragile thing possible and nature being the greatest tinkerer of all， has sold me more than anything else。 George Barnard Shaw once argued that the progress of this world depends upon 'the unreasonable man'。 He was talking about people like NNT。 。。。more

Anish Malpani ，

Required reading in life。

Nerea ，

What is the opposite of fragil？ How can we gain from bad experiences？ This book is key to understanding resilience and flexible thinking。 I need to read it again。 Dense ideas and definitely outside of the usual narrative。

Giuseppe Giorlando ，

I think I will never be able to read it all。 Although i think that fully understand the principle is a must。

Zues Cap ，

One of the best books I have ever read。

Elricie ，

7/10

Kory ，

If Goodreads did half stars， I'd give this a 3。5。 The concept of Antifragility—that there are things that improve after stress and chaos—is so incredibly valuable and interesting that I'm sure I'll carry it around for the rest of my life。 On the other hand， the author has a penchant for creating names for everything， and he has a complete disdain for the following: academics， economics， much of modern medicine， and a bunch of other things I'm probably forgetting。 One thing that particularly rubb If Goodreads did half stars， I'd give this a 3。5。 The concept of Antifragility—that there are things that improve after stress and chaos—is so incredibly valuable and interesting that I'm sure I'll carry it around for the rest of my life。 On the other hand， the author has a penchant for creating names for everything， and he has a complete disdain for the following: academics， economics， much of modern medicine， and a bunch of other things I'm probably forgetting。 One thing that particularly rubbed me the wrong way is that Taleb is one of those people who thinks that depression and ADHD are made up， and that nobody would be depressed if we just hung out in good ol' nature！ Who even needs pills？！ I'm exaggerating， but not by much。Even so， there's a lot of interesting discussion of things that benefit or are harmed by chaos。 I think the notion of antifragility is something to strive for in one's life and work， and I'll likely never forget many of the lessons I learned in this book。 。。。more

Solocol ，

Got it after the first chapter the rest is redundant and/or boring

Sean Raymond ，

Made me rethink most of the ways I justified myself in the world。。。 Loved this book -- I've been giving it as a gift more than any other （apart from my own ;）。 Made me rethink most of the ways I justified myself in the world。。。 Loved this book -- I've been giving it as a gift more than any other （apart from my own ;）。 。。。more

Daniel ，

Taleb always gives the bigger picture of the chaos and variability in our life

Mohamad Ahmad ，

Since you are a complex biological system， your goal in life should be striving to become Antifragile， the term Taleb coins as he looked and looked and， to no avail， couldn't find it in the lexicon of modern people。 Taleb identifies a spectrum he calls the Triad that is composed of Fragile， Robust，and Antifragile。 He gives the analogy of the fragile as the package that warns you to "plz， avoid exposing the item to stressors and harm" as opposed to the Antifragile package that begs you to expose Since you are a complex biological system， your goal in life should be striving to become Antifragile， the term Taleb coins as he looked and looked and， to no avail， couldn't find it in the lexicon of modern people。 Taleb identifies a spectrum he calls the Triad that is composed of Fragile， Robust，and Antifragile。 He gives the analogy of the fragile as the package that warns you to "plz， avoid exposing the item to stressors and harm" as opposed to the Antifragile package that begs you to expose it to stressors and volatility。 We already know what robust is; something that is immune to stressors and volatility， but，Alas，lacks the ability to gain or benefits from these stressors（disorder）。Complex systems， be it biological or man-made need stressors and volatility to thrive in an increasingly uncertain world。 The need for stressors is evidenced by the negative black swans（ hidden small risks accrued over time） these fragilized systems collapse under。 So what modernistic， procrustean-bed type societies are commiting is denying these systems their natural right of having constant exposure to stressors and volatility and this has to change if we want our systems to attract more positive black swans instead of negative ones。The author suggests the barbell strategy， an important mechanism to manage risk and avoid big losses。 The strategy goes as follows: on one side of the barbell， you play it extremely safe putting 80% of your resources in safe bets and 20% in speculative type of deals。 That way， you are antifragile to big losses， likely incurring high gains。 A lot of important terms are worth mentioning here in passing as they help drive the point home further。 Iatrogenics， which Taleb expounds on in the part about medicine。 The idea is that of harming through unneccessary interventionism（ via positiva）， instead of doing the right thing and letting things take their natural course， in healing from a mild sickness， say。 The second term on our list is Hormesis， exposing the system to stressors（ up to a point） to make it immune against harsher conditions in the future。 Subtractive knowledge。 The idea of knowing more by subtracting（via negativa） instead of adding as more data=more noise and the path to true knowledge is in debunking false theories and exposing the false instead of adding more。Lindy effect。 The idea that unperishable stuff（ written word， artifact， historical monuments， selfish genes， ideas。。） increase in value as they age as opposed to perishable biological systems whose lifetime decrease as thy age。Convex thinking vs concave thinking。 I don't think i understood these two terms very well。 The way I see it is an Antifragile system is represented on a graph by showing postive convexity effects: Assymetry and nonlinearity over time。 For instance， the number of cars on the road with respect to intensity of traffic。 Past a certain point， one additional car one the road can have a very non linear/asymetric/exponential （ convex？） effect on the system making traffic non linearly more congested。 Overall an enjoyable read with an important central idea that I can now carry over to my individual life in order to become Antifragile。 For instance， to become Antifragile as a person， 1-avoid medicine unless the case is severe， 2-use the barbell strategy when taking risks， 3- induce stressors and volatility in your life， for example lift weights， run sprints， eat non linearly（ not in 3 meals）， fast， walk slowly for hours in a natural habitat as opposed to on a smooth surfaced treadmill， 4- be a rational flaneûr; live a non narrative/ anti tourstificated life。 You don't abide by a plan， you update your decisions as you go， based on new information from the environement， 5- Avoid the news（noise）， read the classics， avoid sugar， expose yourself to uncertainties。 Make small mistakes and learn from them（ stressors=information） so that you don't live under the illusion that you're safe（while small，hidden risks b are being accumulated in the background till the day they explode into a prominent black swan and makes you exit the genepool） 。。。more

Julien Desrosiers ，

Very interesting concept that touches absolutely everything in life。 Therefore it's a pretty useful thing to know in order to gain from chaos and volatility， and not losing。 Very interesting concept that touches absolutely everything in life。 Therefore it's a pretty useful thing to know in order to gain from chaos and volatility， and not losing。 。。。more

Kate ，

Totally irritating but fascinating。

Iury ，

Taleb tem ideias simples e poderosas。 A antifragilidade é uma delas。 Antifrágil é qualquer ente （pessoa， empresa， sistema） que se beneficia （ao invés de se machucar） da volatilidade。 O autor dá exemplos em diversos campos do conhecimento: saúde pessoal， exercício físico， finanças， organização industrial， etc。Além do poder do conceito em si， Taleb gasta boa parte do livro identificado os riscos escondidos dos entes frágeis。 Indica também a contradição entre ética moral e profissões que não sofrem Taleb tem ideias simples e poderosas。 A antifragilidade é uma delas。 Antifrágil é qualquer ente （pessoa， empresa， sistema） que se beneficia （ao invés de se machucar） da volatilidade。 O autor dá exemplos em diversos campos do conhecimento: saúde pessoal， exercício físico， finanças， organização industrial， etc。Além do poder do conceito em si， Taleb gasta boa parte do livro identificado os riscos escondidos dos entes frágeis。 Indica também a contradição entre ética moral e profissões que não sofrem o custo de riscos que geram e provê algumas heurísticas （regras simples） sobre como se tornar mais antifrágil ou identificar a fragilidade ao nosso redor。 Especialmente interessante são as parte que trata de iatrogenics （o mal causado pelo intervencionismo médico） e a heurística baseada no que deixar de fazer （ao invés do que fazer）: via negativa。O livro é bem escrito， ao estilo Taleb。 Abundam exemplos que tiram proveito da ascendência do autor， bem como a narrativa conta com seus clássicos personagens Fat Toney and Nero Tulip。 É exatamente aqui que o livro também fica por vezes enfadonho e passa a impressão de cherry picking - é uma sensação que não consigo explicar direito。Levaria um 3。5 se fosse possível aqui no Goodreads。 。。。more

Tsvetomira ，

Another masterpiece from Nassim Taleb。 He's completely thrown away the box， not sure he ever had a box 😂 Loved it。 Another masterpiece from Nassim Taleb。 He's completely thrown away the box， not sure he ever had a box 😂 Loved it。 。。。more

Václav Zoube ，

While reading， I could not stop thinking this could have been an essay - and a brilliant one。 Author goes around and around explaining particularities of what his friend is quoted saying when asked to summarize the book:"Everything gains or loses from volatility。 Fragility is what loses from volatility and uncertainty。 The glass on the table is short volatility。"Still worth the read， just brace yourself for personal anecdotes and reminiscences from Taleb's past and family history。 While reading， I could not stop thinking this could have been an essay - and a brilliant one。 Author goes around and around explaining particularities of what his friend is quoted saying when asked to summarize the book:"Everything gains or loses from volatility。 Fragility is what loses from volatility and uncertainty。 The glass on the table is short volatility。"Still worth the read， just brace yourself for personal anecdotes and reminiscences from Taleb's past and family history。 。。。more

Adrian ，

A great book that should be read and analyzed and read again。 The author has a very good opinion about himself， but the points he makes are all valid， even though he exaggerates sometimes to get the idea across。

David Torné ，

Libre qué cambia la teva forma de veure el món

Jared Pangier ，

Moving from books about Elon Musk and Artificial Intelligence is like moving from the North Pole to the equator， and yet it is the best move one can take。 We learn best through contrast， through seeing the differences in thinking and adding those ideas to our own understanding of the world。 Nassim Nicholas Taleb provides a view of the world that is minimalistic and strong。 With a focused message on the need to reduce our world and our experiences to ones that will last through antifragility， and Moving from books about Elon Musk and Artificial Intelligence is like moving from the North Pole to the equator， and yet it is the best move one can take。 We learn best through contrast， through seeing the differences in thinking and adding those ideas to our own understanding of the world。 Nassim Nicholas Taleb provides a view of the world that is minimalistic and strong。 With a focused message on the need to reduce our world and our experiences to ones that will last through antifragility， and to be hyper-aware of the harm caused in not seeing the negative affects of iatrogenics beyond the medical world。 Interventionism by doctors， teachers， politicians， governments， and parents works against the natural process of antifragility and， often， without anyone blinking an eye。 Harm at the intention to help—or perceived as intended to help—is harm that is often unchallenged and， so， persists in our world until someone finds the courage and clear thinking to stop it。 This book changes the way I look at the world; it changes the way I contribute to the world wether as a husband， teacher， parent， or citizen。 I will master the art of doing nothing when nothing allows our natural world to be the best and most long lasting source of growth。 。。。more

Владислав Дубас ，

Millions of fantastic thoughts。 This book has been an unexpected journey for me。 I recommend this book to everyone， who keen on looking beyound "simple" understanding of things that surrounds us and events that are happening around us。 Millions of fantastic thoughts。 This book has been an unexpected journey for me。 I recommend this book to everyone， who keen on looking beyound "simple" understanding of things that surrounds us and events that are happening around us。 。。。more

Ben ，

Taleb is the most thought provoking author I've picked up this year。 I will be exploring the rest of incerto。 Taleb is the most thought provoking author I've picked up this year。 I will be exploring the rest of incerto。 。。。more

Juli Hoffman ，

Dear Author，If you want to write a book that will be taken seriously， it would probably be best to leave out the misogynistic/homophobic slurs。 As this book stands， I barely escaped the introduction before I realized that this book is an opinion piece， not a book based on facts。 Anti-science， anti-academic opinions。 I don't know who this book was written for， but perhaps an editor could have proven helpful， someone who could have told you that potential readers don't really like it when you call Dear Author，If you want to write a book that will be taken seriously， it would probably be best to leave out the misogynistic/homophobic slurs。 As this book stands， I barely escaped the introduction before I realized that this book is an opinion piece， not a book based on facts。 Anti-science， anti-academic opinions。 I don't know who this book was written for， but perhaps an editor could have proven helpful， someone who could have told you that potential readers don't really like it when you call them names。 Just saying。Also， there's this: "Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility， randomness， disorder and stressors。。。。 Yet， in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon， there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile。 Let us call it antifragile。" Really？ Do you honestly believe there isn't a word that means the opposite of fragile？ You weren't trying to be funny or ironic？ Perhaps a thesaurus could have been helpful， or a quick Google search。 You could have phoned a friend or two as there are PLENTY of words that mean the opposite of "fragile。"I can't recommend this book to ANYONE。 The idea was interesting， but the execution was poorly done。 Honestly， there's enough hate and misinformation in this world。 No need to add to it。 。。。more

Naveen K ，

Very difficult book to understand。 The author lost the flair of his earlier books here

Samantha ，

I finished this one， so that you don't have to。 Solid ideas， obnoxious and arrogant narrative style。 Would have gotten most of the value just by reading the Wikipedia page。 I finished this one， so that you don't have to。 Solid ideas， obnoxious and arrogant narrative style。 Would have gotten most of the value just by reading the Wikipedia page。 。。。more

Karn ，

Mr。 Taleb's mind is great at looking into depths and pulling out fresh ideas。 This book put new concepts in my mind when it first came out and is still a good （& heavy） read Mr。 Taleb's mind is great at looking into depths and pulling out fresh ideas。 This book put new concepts in my mind when it first came out and is still a good （& heavy） read 。。。more

Himanshu Upreti ，

“Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness。 The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better。”Everyone understands the ideas of fragility （the ability to get easily destroyed or threatened when stressed） & resilience （the ability to spring back into shape when stressed）。 Antifragility goes one step beyond resilience。 Imagine the ability to become better with shocks and stress （up to a stress point though） - that's antifragile for you！ "While the resilient resis “Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness。 The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better。”Everyone understands the ideas of fragility （the ability to get easily destroyed or threatened when stressed） & resilience （the ability to spring back into shape when stressed）。 Antifragility goes one step beyond resilience。 Imagine the ability to become better with shocks and stress （up to a stress point though） - that's antifragile for you！ "While the resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better。"The author of the book is Nassim Nicholas Taleb， a former options trader turned best-selling author turned modern-day philosopher。 Known around the world for his critically acclaimed book "The Black Swan，" Taleb is one of the leading philosophers of modern time。 'Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder' has been written in his conventional style with the introduction of one central idea in the very beginning and then building a narrative around it with myriads of applications of the idea in health， biology， war， politics， education， business， life decisions， urban planning， innovation， etc。One of the interesting things to learn， especially in the current context， was the process of Mithridatism - the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts。 The word is derived from Mithridates VI， the King of Pontus， who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses， aiming to develop immunity。 Principally similar to the modern-day vaccination process， it is aimed to stimulate the body's adaptive immunity。While the book may get overwhelming if you are not into Mathematics， Economics， and Philosophy， it's still a good read to understand a different perspective of the world around you and see the world through a Black Swan-esque lens。 。。。more

Xinyu Wu ，

As usual for Taleb's book， if you can bear with his ego and arrogance， there are some valuable ideas in it。 As usual for Taleb's book， if you can bear with his ego and arrogance， there are some valuable ideas in it。 。。。more

Daniel ，

I have very mixed feelings on this book。 The author makes many important and valid points。 But he often follows it up by then labeling entire groups of people and fields of study as idiotic， clearly over-generalizing。 He also comes of as extraordinarily pompous and condescending， which is a major turn-off。 Perhaps it is to some degree intentional as he argues that for authors all press is good press， including people that express distaste of his style and stereotyping。 For anyone interested in t I have very mixed feelings on this book。 The author makes many important and valid points。 But he often follows it up by then labeling entire groups of people and fields of study as idiotic， clearly over-generalizing。 He also comes of as extraordinarily pompous and condescending， which is a major turn-off。 Perhaps it is to some degree intentional as he argues that for authors all press is good press， including people that express distaste of his style and stereotyping。 For anyone interested in this book I’d point you to “The Coddling of the American Mind” and “Thinking Fast and Slow” as those books to some degree address similar topics， but are far less obnoxious。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0