15 Powerful Lessons from the book "Antifragile"
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
| Thread
1. The book is about decision-making under uncertainty/volatility.
- EVERYTHING either benefits or is harmed by volatility
- The FRAGILE is harmed (think a glass)
- The ROBUST is unchanged (think The Phoenix)
- The ANTIFRAGILE gets better (think The Hydra)
2.
- There is no way to accurately predict WHICH events will occur
- We CAN measure how fragile we are to events
- We CAN take steps to robustify ourselves
- When shit hits the fan, the fragile breaks
- This applies to the economy, politics, health, etc
3. Naive Interventionism
- Systems are COMPLEX
- Most are beyond our understanding
- When we intervene, we introduce potential harm
- These 2nd and 3rd order effects introduce MORE volatility into the system
- This makes systems even less predictable
- STAY in YOUR lane
4. Via Negativa: Removing is superior to Adding
- Less can be More
- Don't add, subtract
- Eliminate the Artificial
- Eliminate the Unnatural
- Eliminate the Unnecessary
Apply these in all areas of your life. When in doubt, SUBTRACT