Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
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- Author：Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- ISBN：0141038225
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Summary
'Antifragility is the secret to success in a wold full of uncertainty， a system for turning random mutations to lasting advantage 。。。 highly entertaining 。。。 whether you find Mr Taleb amusing or irritating， you want to read on'
- ECONOMIST
- ECONOMIST
Reviews
Monserrat
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Black swan
Alexandre Renaud
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Possibly the best of Taleb's books。 Maybe I appreciated it better since I read Black Swan before。 Definitely insightful， brilliant， and though provoking。 As an entrepreneur， I do appreciate the perspective and the critical view he brings to the current state of affairs。 Without a doubt， a top book for me， the concept of antifragility stuck。 Possibly the best of Taleb's books。 Maybe I appreciated it better since I read Black Swan before。 Definitely insightful， brilliant， and though provoking。 As an entrepreneur， I do appreciate the perspective and the critical view he brings to the current state of affairs。 Without a doubt， a top book for me， the concept of antifragility stuck。 。。。more
B
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I really just don't like Taleb's writing style。 He has really good ideas， but it's honestly hard for me to sit down and enjoy reading his books。 I read the first 150 pages， skimmed the next 150 or so， and then didn't finish the rest。 I really just don't like Taleb's writing style。 He has really good ideas， but it's honestly hard for me to sit down and enjoy reading his books。 I read the first 150 pages， skimmed the next 150 or so， and then didn't finish the rest。 。。。more
Timothy Cooper
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This book is feted as being a revelation， full of mind shattering concepts that none of us have ever even had the daring to dream up （over two thousand years of Buddhist and Taoist notions on the nature of flux and interdependence evidently don't count）。 My initial， and ongoing， feeling， is that it is full of dreadfully undisciplined thinking that hops from concept to personal anecdote， interspersed with lots of odd terms to define things that don't really mean a great deal or are glaringly obvi This book is feted as being a revelation， full of mind shattering concepts that none of us have ever even had the daring to dream up （over two thousand years of Buddhist and Taoist notions on the nature of flux and interdependence evidently don't count）。 My initial， and ongoing， feeling， is that it is full of dreadfully undisciplined thinking that hops from concept to personal anecdote， interspersed with lots of odd terms to define things that don't really mean a great deal or are glaringly obvious。 I'd read one or two reviews declaring that Taleb's work changes the way you see things， and was looking forward to reading this book。 I was disappointed， to put it mildly。 Vastly overrated thinker。。。 。。。more
Miguel Rodriguez
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Espectacular。 Un hito conceptual clave para el mundo que vivimos
Kevin McPherson
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Original and really mind-bending
Julia Shumway
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Taleb's writing style is pretty much just one long rant。 He's got lots of gripes， and he's naming names: he calls the scholars， economists， bankers， politicians， etc。 that he dislikes "fragilistas。" It's very Holden Caulfield。So， if you don't find a good diatribe satisfying， this book won't be for you。 BUT， there are a lot of interesting ideas in here for anyone who can either enjoy or get past the writing style。 I thoroughly enjoyed the ride。 Taleb's writing style is pretty much just one long rant。 He's got lots of gripes， and he's naming names: he calls the scholars， economists， bankers， politicians， etc。 that he dislikes "fragilistas。" It's very Holden Caulfield。So， if you don't find a good diatribe satisfying， this book won't be for you。 BUT， there are a lot of interesting ideas in here for anyone who can either enjoy or get past the writing style。 I thoroughly enjoyed the ride。 。。。more
Omar Fernández
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The notion of antifragility is fascinating and widely applicable。 A few notes: * mother nature is antifragile and has been tinkering slowly over time， we should admit she's much wiser than we can be and be humble when proposing changes that go against it （e。g。， diet， exercise， etc。） * organizations that are large are fragile， black swan events can have huge impacts in many people。 Need to control for these。 * government does best when smaller and thus the incentives align to do well for the peop The notion of antifragility is fascinating and widely applicable。 A few notes: * mother nature is antifragile and has been tinkering slowly over time， we should admit she's much wiser than we can be and be humble when proposing changes that go against it （e。g。， diet， exercise， etc。） * organizations that are large are fragile， black swan events can have huge impacts in many people。 Need to control for these。 * government does best when smaller and thus the incentives align to do well for the people。 when large government it's easy to get divorced from the people as incentives don't align。 * company managers often don't have the right incentives。 if they make a "big positive impact" they can get huge bonuses。 if subsequently the company crashed due to their changes， they don't lose their prior pay and bonuses。 thus no incentive to carefully build for the long term。 。。。more
Mike
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Finished this a while ago。 Also， could not decide how many stars I intended to rate this book。So， I gave him 2 stars， in the hopes as an author he is antifragile and will gain from this disordered approach。By the way， I'm not a jerk。 The author definitely has a point， and it seems to be a valid one -- for _some_ systems， beyond fragile and robust， there is a third behavior。 （Emphasis added。）But here's the thing -- don't deride scientists and academics， and then try to fake your way through the p Finished this a while ago。 Also， could not decide how many stars I intended to rate this book。So， I gave him 2 stars， in the hopes as an author he is antifragile and will gain from this disordered approach。By the way， I'm not a jerk。 The author definitely has a point， and it seems to be a valid one -- for _some_ systems， beyond fragile and robust， there is a third behavior。 （Emphasis added。）But here's the thing -- don't deride scientists and academics， and then try to fake your way through the proofs。 Don't deride your critics just for being your critics， or call them names no matter how well or poorly they criticize you。 And don't gripe about cherry-picking data when you reason by example。=====If you get past the attitude -- and strangely， the narrator perpetuates it -- and the fact that the author doesn't really _prove_ he's right， only that he has managed to find places where his theory matches the outcomes， then the book isn't half bad。And if his theory is right， my low enjoyment of it may strengthen both him and me。 #BeAntiFragile 。。。more
Paige McLoughlin
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I read this most recently during my hospital stay for my breakdown last week。 Taleb has Libertarianish politics which is understandable given his Wall Street background （I don't like Libertarian politics as I will make clear on political books I review。） I like this book however with observations on life infused with stoic wisdom disguised as a book on statistics and the concept of Anti-fragility or systems that get stronger with the random knocks applied to them。 Applies the idea of hormesis （a I read this most recently during my hospital stay for my breakdown last week。 Taleb has Libertarianish politics which is understandable given his Wall Street background （I don't like Libertarian politics as I will make clear on political books I review。） I like this book however with observations on life infused with stoic wisdom disguised as a book on statistics and the concept of Anti-fragility or systems that get stronger with the random knocks applied to them。 Applies the idea of hormesis （a small dose of poison protects against bigger later doses） See the book the Poison King about the Hellenistic ruler on this。 Anyway， Taleb divides his categories into three systems fragile systems， robust systems， and antifragile。 Fragile stuff breaks easily， robust stuff is largely indifferent to shocks， and anti-fragile stuff gets stronger with shocks。 Machinery be it material or more conceptual that is fragile breaks under shocks think intricate， delicate and complicated contraptions， with lots of interconnected moving parts， Robust is usually more simple devices which can take a knock and keep going， Anti-fragile systems are strangely often complex with black box features that get stronger through and evolving process that toughens them over time。 Hence modern preferences for new shiny intricate toys are a problem quite often。 Robust simplicity is better but to really make for long-lasting devices you need them to evolve and stand up to slings and arrows of outrageous fortune hence a preference for old and tried and true is probably a safer prejudice。 I like the ideas probably have to work some to make it meld with my favored political preferences。 。。。more
Zach Christensen
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I've really gone back and forth on this review。 I liked his overall premise - that some things benefit from volatility - and thought his application of the concept was original。 There was a lot of eye-opening points。 However， I found myself wanting more concrete examples: *how* does one benefit from volatility？！ While he did give plenty of examples about the gene pool or long-lived human inventions being anti-fragile， those parts of the book were a little long and circular。 It is not a book on i I've really gone back and forth on this review。 I liked his overall premise - that some things benefit from volatility - and thought his application of the concept was original。 There was a lot of eye-opening points。 However， I found myself wanting more concrete examples: *how* does one benefit from volatility？！ While he did give plenty of examples about the gene pool or long-lived human inventions being anti-fragile， those parts of the book were a little long and circular。 It is not a book on investing， so maybe it was wrong to expect at least one "put money here in this way to hedge against black swans" example。 。。。more
Ritzo
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Zo'n boek waardoor je anders gaat leven。 Inspirerend。 Lezen met veel korrels zout en fronsen。 Taleb is niet de beste schrijver en de leukste man。 Zo'n boek waardoor je anders gaat leven。 Inspirerend。 Lezen met veel korrels zout en fronsen。 Taleb is niet de beste schrijver en de leukste man。 。。。more
Almad
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Continuing on picking up ideas from Black Swan， Taleb goes into consequences and preparedness for the problems introduced there。 In some sense， this book would be a viable Bible of Conservatism。 And I mean it in a good way。The basic theme repeats: things that survived for long must have done something right。 The something often is ability to survive unexpected， terminal event—and not only that， but to gain an edge from them。 This idea is explored across multiple disciplines。All usual Taleb discl Continuing on picking up ideas from Black Swan， Taleb goes into consequences and preparedness for the problems introduced there。 In some sense， this book would be a viable Bible of Conservatism。 And I mean it in a good way。The basic theme repeats: things that survived for long must have done something right。 The something often is ability to survive unexpected， terminal event—and not only that， but to gain an edge from them。 This idea is explored across multiple disciplines。All usual Taleb disclaimers apply。 Arrogance and personal insecurity mix&match， a lot of wood is sacrificed attacking the usual suspects。 But if you can look beyond that， worthy ideas are hidden there。 。。。more
Arturo
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Great book， although hard to read at times。I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something that will change your world vision - especially regarding to the foolishness of trying to simplify things and the power of trial and error。
UhshGigeh
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Complex systems， like societies， are dominated by the interactions of their components。 The number of interactions scales way stronger than linear in the number of components， thus rendering these systems very very hard or impossible to understand。 Most notably， their behavior can't be inferred from the behavior of the individual components anymore。 Taleb shows how to survive in such an environment， how to benefit from it and how to preserve its health。 Amazing read， maybe my book of the year。 Complex systems， like societies， are dominated by the interactions of their components。 The number of interactions scales way stronger than linear in the number of components， thus rendering these systems very very hard or impossible to understand。 Most notably， their behavior can't be inferred from the behavior of the individual components anymore。 Taleb shows how to survive in such an environment， how to benefit from it and how to preserve its health。 Amazing read， maybe my book of the year。 。。。more
Ryan McGuine
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Some love his ranting style， but I find it a bit off-putting。 If you can get past that， though， this book changed the way I see the world more deeply than the vast majority of things I read。
Yijia Chen
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Ahhh it's hard to rate this one。 On the one hand， the author is extremely clever in coming up with the term， which can explain so many things。 As humans we are not used to uncertainty and disorder， yet in modern society the ability to grow from disorder is increasingly the game changer。 It also pointed out， in plain words， that all predictions are bulls**t。 The term "antifragile"， once I understood it， is like a magic bullet that killed all of my fear for the future。On the other hand， the author Ahhh it's hard to rate this one。 On the one hand， the author is extremely clever in coming up with the term， which can explain so many things。 As humans we are not used to uncertainty and disorder， yet in modern society the ability to grow from disorder is increasingly the game changer。 It also pointed out， in plain words， that all predictions are bulls**t。 The term "antifragile"， once I understood it， is like a magic bullet that killed all of my fear for the future。On the other hand， the author greatly overreached his domain and， from my perspective， blindly assigned antifragility indices to lots of things in life which don't quite make sense。 He also overanalyzes from his personal experience and downplays the role of more well-known or persuasive examples - "data" if you will。 As a result， just like his other book "Black Swan"， I would recommend only reading the beginning thoroughly and take the rest with a grain of salt。 。。。more
Kai
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Very thought provoking across many domains。。。
Liudas Mikal
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One of the best modern day philosophical books。
April
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I definitely appreciate having this concept of antifragility brought to light with a term for it。 I found that the book was dense and the cadence threw me off a bit and it was challenging for me to keep a consistent pace--I'd be paying attention but then something in the writing would change and then I'd start thinking about other things and would need to re-read the sentence/paragraph。 Ironically， that happened somewhat consistently。 I did appreciate his humor at times， and the accompanying exa I definitely appreciate having this concept of antifragility brought to light with a term for it。 I found that the book was dense and the cadence threw me off a bit and it was challenging for me to keep a consistent pace--I'd be paying attention but then something in the writing would change and then I'd start thinking about other things and would need to re-read the sentence/paragraph。 Ironically， that happened somewhat consistently。 I did appreciate his humor at times， and the accompanying examples he gave to illustrate his arguments。Book coincidences:- mention’s Swann’s Way or La recherché and I’m currently reading it- mentions Vladimir Navokov and I recently read Lolita “Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness。 The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better。 This property is behind everything that has changed with time: evolution， culture， ideas， revolutions， political systems， technological innovation， cultural and economic success， corporate survival， good recipes （say， chicken soup or steak tartare with a drop of cognac）， the rise of cities， cultures， legal systems， equatorial forests， bacterial resistance … even our own existence as a species on this planet。 And antifragility determines the boundary between what is living and organic （or complex）， say， the human body， and what is inert， say， a physical object like the stapler on your desk。” pg。 3“We have been unconsciously exploiting antifragility in practical life and， consciously， rejecting it—particularly in intellectual life。” pg。 9“In short， the fragilista （medical， economic， social planning） is one who makes you engage in policies and actions， all artificial， in which the benefits are small and visible， and the side effects potentially severe and invisible。” pg。 10“There is the medical fragilista who overintervenes in denying the body’s natural ability to heal and gives you medications with potentially very severe side effects; the policy fragilista （the interventionist social planner） who mistakes the economy for a washing machine that continuously needs fixing （by him） and blows it up; the psychiatric fragilista who medicates children to ‘improve’ their intellectual and emotional life; the soccer-mom fragilista; the financial fragilista who makes people use ‘risk’ models that destroy the banking system （then uses them again）; the military fragilista who disturbs complex systems; the predictor fragilista who encourages you to take more risks; and many more。” pg。 10“Why item （ix）， time？ Time is functionally similar to volatility: the more time， the more events， the more disorder。 Consider that if you can suffer limited harm and are antifragile to small errors， time brings the kind of errors or reverse errors that end up benefiting you。 This is simply what your grandmother calls experience。 The fragile breaks with time。” pg。 13“Only distilled ideas， ones that sit in us for a long time， are acceptable—and those that come from reality。” pg。 15“If you see fraud and do not say fraud， you are a fraud。Just as being nice to the arrogant is no better than being arrogant toward the nice， being accommodating toward anyone committing a nefarious action condones it。” pg。 15“We are all， in a way， similarly handicapped， unable to recognize the same idea when it is presented in a different context。 It is as if we are doomed to be deceived by the most superficial part of things， the packaging， the gift wrapping。 This is why we don’t see antifragility in places that are obvious， too obvious。 It is not part of the accepted way of thinking about success， economic growth， or innovation that these may result only from overcompensation against stressors。 Nor do we see this overcompensation at work elsewhere。 （And domain dependence is always why it has been difficult for many researchers to realize that uncertainty， incomplete understanding， disorder， and volatility are members of the same close family。） This lack of translation is a mental handicap that comes with being human; and we will only start to attain wisdom or rationality when we make an effort to overcome and break through it。” pg。 39-40“The world as a whole has never been richer， and it has never been more heavily in debt， living off borrowed money。 The record shows that， for society， the richer we become， the harder it gets to live within our means。 Abundance is harder for us to handle than scarcity。” pg。 42“It is said that the best horses lose when they compete with slower ones， and win against better rivals。 Undercompensation from the absence of a stressor， inverse hormesis， absence of challenge， degrades the best of the best。 。 。This mechanism of overcompensation hides in the most unlikely places。 If tired after an intercontinental flight， go to the gym for some exertion instead of resting。 Also， it is a well-known trick that if you need something urgently done， give the task to the busiest （or second busiest） person in the office。 Most humans manage to squander their free time， as free time makes them dysfunctional， lazy， and unmotivated—the busier they get， the more active they are at other tasks。 Overcompensation， here again。” pg。 43“Like tormenting love， some thoughts are so antifragile that you feed them by trying to get rid of them， turning them into obsessions。 Psychologists have shown the irony of the process of thought control: the more energy you put into trying to control your ideas and what you think about， the more your ideas end up controlling you。” pg。 49“Our antifragilities have conditions。 The frequency of stressors matters a bit。 Humans tend to do better with acute than with chronic stressors， particularly when the former are followed by ample time for recovery， which allows the stressors to do their jobs as messengers。” pg。 58“Finally， an environment with variability （hence randomness） does not expose us to chronic stress injury， unlike human-designed systems。 If you walk on uneven， not man-made terrain， no two steps will ver be identical—compare that to the randomness-free gym machine offering the exact opposite: forcing you into endless repetitions of the very same movement。Much of modern life is preventable chronic stress injury。” pg。 64“So some parts on the inside of a system may be required to be fragile in order to make the system antifragile as a result。 Or the organism itself might be fragile， but the information encoded in the genes reproducing it will be antifragile。 The point is not trivial， as it is behind the logic of evolution。” pg。 66“For the antifragile， harm from errors should be less than the benefits。 We are talking about some， not all errors， of course; those that do not destroy a system help prevent larger calamities。 The engineer and historian of engineering Henry Petroski presents a very elegant point。 Had the Titanic not had that famous accident， as fatal as it was， we would have kept building larger and larger ocean liners and the next disaster would have been even more tragic。 So the people who perished were sacrificed for the greater good; they unarguably saved more lives than were lost。 The story of the Titanic illustrates the difference between gains for the system and harm to some of its individual parts。” pg。 72“Further， my characterization of a loser is someone who， after making a mistake， doesn’t introspect， doesn’t exploit it， feels embarrassed and defensive rather than enriched with a new piece of information， and tries to explain why he made the mistake rather than moving on。 These types often consider themselves the ‘victims’ of some large plot， a bad boss， or bad weather。” pg。 74“For the economy to be antifragile and undergo what is called evolution， every single individual business must necessarily be fragile， exposed to breaking—evolution needs organisms （or their genes） to die when supplanted by others， in order to achieve improvement， or to avoid reproduction when they are not as fit as someone else。 Accordingly， the antifragility of the higher level may require the fragility—and sacrifice—of the lower one。 Every time you use a coffeemaker for your morning cappuccino， you are benefiting from the fragility of the coffeemaking entrepreneur who failed。 He failed in order to help put the superior merchandise on your kitchen counter。” pg。 74-75“We can also see from the turkey story the mother of all harmful mistakes: mistaking absence of evidence （of harm） for evidence of absence， a mistake that we will see tends to prevail in intellectual circles and one that is grounded in the social sciences。” pg。 93“Unfortunately， you cannot randomize a political party out of existence。 What is plaguing us in the United States is not the two-party system， but being stuck with the same two parties。 Parties don’t have organic built-in expiration dates。” pg。 104“To sum up， anything in which there is naive interventionism， nay， even just intervention， will have iatrogenics。” pg。 113“While we now have a word for causing harm while trying to help， we don’t have a designation for the opposite situation， that of someone who ends up helping while trying to cause harm。 Just remember that attacking the antifragile will backfire。 For instance， hackers make systems stronger。 Or as in the case of Ayn Rand， obsessive and intense critics help a book spread。” pg。 113“Perhaps the idea behind capitalism is an inverse-iatrogenic effect， the unintended-but-not-so-unintended consequences: the system facilitates the conversion of selfish aim （or， to be correct， not necessarily benevolent ones） at the individual level into beneficial results for the collective。” pg。 114“Let me warn against misinterpreting the message here。 The argument is not against the notion of intervention; in fact I showed above that I am equally worried about under intervention when it is truly necessary。 I am just warning against naive intervention and lack of awareness and acceptance of harm done by it。” pg。 119“Here， all I am saying is that we need to avoid being blind to the natural antifragility of systems， their ability to take care of themselves， and fight our tendency to harm and fragile them by not giving them a chance to do so。” pg。 119“Few understand that procrastination is our natural defense， letting things take care of themselves and exercise their antifragility; it results from some ecological or naturalistic wisdom， and is not always bad—at an existential level， it is my body rebelling against its entrapment。 It is my soul fighting the Procrustean bed of modernity。 Granted， in the modern world， my tax return is not going to take care of itself—but by delaying a non-vital visit to a doctor， or deferring the writing of a passage until my body tells me that I am ready for it， I may be using a very potent naturalistic filter。 I write only if I feel like it and only on a subject I feel like writing about—and the reader is no fool。 So I use procrastination as a message from my inner self and my deep evolutionary past to resist interventionism in my writing。 Yet some psychologists and behavioral economists seem to think that procrastination is a disease to be remedied and cured。” pg。 122“Since procrastination is a message from our natural willpower via low motivation， the cure is changing the environment， or one’s profession， by selecting one in which one does not have to fight one’s impulses。 Few can grasp the logical consequence that， instead， one should lead a life in which procrastination is good， as a naturalistic-risk-based form of decision making。” pg。 123“There is another dimension to the need to focus on actions and avoid words: the health-eroding dependence on external recognition。 People are cruel and unfair in the way they confer recognition， so it is best to stay out of that game。 Stay robust to how others treat you。” pg。 148“You can’t predict in general， but you can predict that those who rely on predictions are taking more risks， will have some trouble， perhaps even go bust。 Why？ Someone who predicts will be fragile to prediction errors。 An overconfident pilot will eventually crash the plane。 And numerical prediction leads people to take more risks。” pg。 150“Stoicism， seen this way， becomes pure robustness—for the attainment of a state of immunity from one’s external circumstances， good or bad， and an absence of fragility to decisions made by fate， is robustness。 Random events won’t affect us either way （we are too strong to lose， and not greedy to enjoy the upside）， so we stay in the middle column of the Triad。” pg。 153“An intelligent life is all about such emotional positioning to eliminate the sting of harm， which as we saw is done by mentally writing off belongings so one does not feel any pain from losses。 The volatility of the world no longer affects you negatively。” pg。 156“So he [Seneca] played a trick on fate: kept the good and ditched the bad; cut the downside and kept the upside。 Self-servingly， that is， by eliminating the harm from fate and un-philosophically keeping the upside。 This cost-benefit analysis is not quite Stoicism in the way people understand the meaning of Stoicism （people who study Stoicism seem to want Seneca and other Stoics to think like those who study Stoicism）。 There is an upside-downside asymmetry。That’s antifragility in its purest form。” pg。 157“Fragility implies more to lose than to gain， equals more downside than upside， equals （unfavorable） asymmetry。Antifragility implies more to gain than to lose， equals more upside than downside， equals （favorable） asymmetry。” pg。 158“One finds similar ideas in ancestral lore: it is explained in a Yiddish proverb that says ‘Provide for the worst; the best can take care of itself。’ This may sound like a platitude， but it is not: just observe how people tend to provide for the best and hope that the worst will take care of itself。 We have ample evidence that people are averse to small losses， but not so much toward very large Black Swan risks （which they underestimate）， since they tend to insure for small probable losses， but not large infrequent ones。 Exactly backwards。” pg。 163“The barbell businessman-scholar situation was ideal; after three or four in the afternoon， when I left the office， my day job ceased to exist until the next day and I was completely free to pursue what I found most valuable and interesting。 When I tried to become an academic I felt like a prisoner， forced to follow others’ less rigorous， self-promotional programs。” pg。 144“The strength of the computer entrepreneur Steve Jobs was precisely in distrusting market research and focus groups—those based on asking people what they want—and following his own imagination。 His modus was that people don’t know what they want until you provide them with it。” pg。 171Book: borrowed from SSF Main Library。 Read as part of Compology's book club。 。。。more
Amy Mossoff
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I found this book unreadable and gave it up about a quarter of the way through。
Evan Nordquist
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For future generations that judge me in a bad light for having read a book by such an outrageous asshole， I agree with you on that much。 Nassim Taleb seems， from his non-stop self-flattery， to be a contender the most insufferable pompous ass-hat of the century。 Agreed。 But that doesn't take away from the validity of his arguments。 Thinking an idea is bad because the author is an ass is the logical fallacy 'ad hominem' and we won't be falling for that。 The book had a lot of thought provoking idea For future generations that judge me in a bad light for having read a book by such an outrageous asshole， I agree with you on that much。 Nassim Taleb seems， from his non-stop self-flattery， to be a contender the most insufferable pompous ass-hat of the century。 Agreed。 But that doesn't take away from the validity of his arguments。 Thinking an idea is bad because the author is an ass is the logical fallacy 'ad hominem' and we won't be falling for that。 The book had a lot of thought provoking ideas。 And I would recommend it to others who can stomach this guys attitude。The part that REALLY got my goat about Antifragile， was that Taleb seems to think that Steve Jobs invented the computer mouse。 "–only he [Jobs] had a vision of the dialectic between images and humans–"。 I nearly quit that book right there。Douglas Engelbart invented the computer mouse， and filed for a patent by 1967。 He also demonstrated it live for the whole world to see in 1968 at the "mother of all demos"， which luckily was recorded for posterity。 Not only was this a demo of a working mouse， but also a demo of hypertext links。 Here is a link to that demonstration。 For more on the backstory to that world changing conference， check out Innovators by Walter Isaacson。 Back to Antifragile。But the problem， isn't that he got that one factoid wrong。 Everyone makes mistakes。 I probably made several errors in this review。 The problem is that everything resembling a fact after that point in the book I had to take with a huge grain of "yeah but this guy thinks Steve Jobs invented the computer mouse"。 Luckily most of the book was made up of 10，000 foot up philosophical ideas， and mostly good ideas， which can apply loosely to any field （from investing to medicine）。 Again， I recommend this book。 Would have been a 5/5 。。。but this guy thinks that Steve Jobs invented the computer mouse。 。。。more
Nicole
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This book is excellent and thought-provoking but I do not think it would stand alone well。 I needed the information from The Black Swan to understand the points made in AntiFragile。 One without the other is much less - it's non-linear 😉If you don't like arrogant condescension then you will probably dislike this book immensely。 I don't mind an arrogant author as I prefer to know the opinions and world view of who I'm reading over the dishonest authors who claim "both sides" and "unbiased opinions This book is excellent and thought-provoking but I do not think it would stand alone well。 I needed the information from The Black Swan to understand the points made in AntiFragile。 One without the other is much less - it's non-linear 😉If you don't like arrogant condescension then you will probably dislike this book immensely。 I don't mind an arrogant author as I prefer to know the opinions and world view of who I'm reading over the dishonest authors who claim "both sides" and "unbiased opinions"。 We all have strong views， Taleb doesn't try to hide his。 。。。more
Jasper Verschaeve
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What to say about this one。。。 Reading this book was a very ambiguous experience。 I had to wrest myself through in particular the first half of the book。 But I did， seeing as I hate leaving books unfinished and I feel like authors deserve the right to make their point（s） in full， even if one disagrees with opinions or premises contained therein。As for my rating: three stars。 Why？ I would rate large swaths of the book one star， mainly due to the author's condescending， pompous tone （or should I sa What to say about this one。。。 Reading this book was a very ambiguous experience。 I had to wrest myself through in particular the first half of the book。 But I did， seeing as I hate leaving books unfinished and I feel like authors deserve the right to make their point（s） in full， even if one disagrees with opinions or premises contained therein。As for my rating: three stars。 Why？ I would rate large swaths of the book one star， mainly due to the author's condescending， pompous tone （or should I say。。。 personality？）， which， safe to say， does not seem to be at all merited。 In many instances it seems like he lacks proper understanding of what he is discussing。 Often times you get the feeling he knows it， too， as evidenced by his bitingly aggressive， contrarian stance， in particular in cases where it is quite obvious logical reasoning wears a little thin （and indeed， he would do well to examine a list of logical fallacies， as there are quite a few to be found in this tome）。 Adding to this， no opportunity goes by to convince you as a reader that he is， indeed， very well read， particularly in "the classics" （and yes， I am convinced。 But equally I wonder in what chronological order - did the ideas and justifications crystallise as a result of previous reading， or was it a matter of finding affirmative texts， preferably old and obscure， after the idea was formulated？）。 Unfortunately， this all comes across as very insecure at best， and setting a bad example at worst （thereby inciting similar behaviour）。 The last thing society needs right now is more "Dunning-Krugerites": laypeople believing themselves to be "experts"， as well as "sceptics" （tragically， with the exemption of their own knowledge and reasoning）。On the plus side， there are a number of ideas in this book worth mulling over， if you can bear the manner in which they are presented。 The book consists of a number of "books" and "chapters"， which can be read largely on their own。 I would have preferred it being kept that way， but alas， it seems the author felt the need to develop a "framework"， a "thread" running through the book。 In wanting to relate all the ideas in the book to this framework， he develops a number of equal times laughable， vitriolic， and even witty neologisms， in many cases though only fulfilling the need for structural relevance as pertains to his theoretical framework （which could ironically be thought of as quite Procrustean， as he himself would name it）。 All the pseudo-scientific pseudo-mathematical babble could have just been left out， and the book would have been better for it。Here I am， though， writing this review - something I rarely take the time to do。 Despite the author's own best efforts， I would say it is worth reading， even if just to sharpen one's mind。 But please， beware， and read critically。 。。。more
Alejandro Ramirez Fernandez
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Obra maestra de Taleb。 Desde el momento en el que lo empiezas a leer， ves el mundo de otra manera diferente。
David
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I really enjoyed reading this book。 While when reading the black swan， I first had to get used to Talebs style of writing， I really enjoyed it in this book。 I think Taleb has a lot of very smart thoughts regarding risks and randomness and how to deal with it or even better， how to profit from it。 The only point I want to criticize is that Taleb applies his theories to nearly all aspects in life。 While doing so he often uses hyperboles to make up his points。 I think in areas where he is definitel I really enjoyed reading this book。 While when reading the black swan， I first had to get used to Talebs style of writing， I really enjoyed it in this book。 I think Taleb has a lot of very smart thoughts regarding risks and randomness and how to deal with it or even better， how to profit from it。 The only point I want to criticize is that Taleb applies his theories to nearly all aspects in life。 While doing so he often uses hyperboles to make up his points。 I think in areas where he is definitely not an expert， e。g。 like medicine， this is very dangerous and could be misread by a lot of people （to be fair， for the attentive reader he often puts his statements into perspective immediately after an hyperbole）。 Therefore for me the book could have done without some opinions and views， about specific areas。 Nevertheless because I really enjoyed reading the book and because I think it is a book that contains a lot of very important knowledge I give it 5 stars！ 。。。more
Arsene
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Read it， and then read it again， more carefully。 It's that good Read it， and then read it again， more carefully。 It's that good 。。。more
Dea Mulolli
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Overall an interesting book but certainly overwhelming， even though I very well understand that complexity theories can by default be overwhelming。 Anyway， I found the author’s voice a bit too cynical for my taste， so this book did not do for me。
Cody Woodworth
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Very dense modern philosophy book。 Checked it out from a library but ended up buying a copy so I could keep it and highlight / annotate。 Makes you reflect on the way you live your daily life， the structure of our global political and economic institutions， and everything in between。 Great use of references to ancient philosophers and present day anecdotes。 Not a page wasted， 10/10 will read again。
Nate Rifkin
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