Antifragile : Things that Gain from Disorder

In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem, and his revelatory new book Antifragile offers a definitive solution: how to live in a world that is unpredicatable, chaotic, and full of shocks, and how to thrive during periods of disaster. Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary, and proposes that things be built in an antifragile manner. For what Taleb calls the 'antifragile' is beyond the merely robust; it benefits from shocks, uncertainty and stressors. The most successful of us, the most daring and creative will take advantage of disorder and invent new, more powerful opportunities and advantages beyond our expectations. 'Antifragility is the secret to success in a world 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 'Taleb is a very funny writer with a finely tuned BS detector . . . Antifragility isn't just sound economic and political doctrine. It's also the key to a good life.' Fortune 'This is a bold, entertaining, clever book, richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides . . . I will have to read it again. And again.' Matt Ridley, Wall Street Journal 'A new kind of strength . . . not invincible but better able to handle life's inevitable surprises . . . such a combination leaves open the possibility of big rewards while minimizing exposure to risk.' Los Angeles Times 'Taleb is an outsider in a business of outsiders, and if he is lobbing grenades at the power in the centre - well, that's the point.' Daily Telegraph
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Really made me think about how I think -- Mohsin Hamid * Guardian * The hottest thinker in the world -- Bryan Appleyard * The Sunday Times * A superhero of the mind -- Boyd Tonkin Wall Street's principal dissident -- Malcolm Gladwell A guru for every would-be Damien Hirst, George Soros and aspirant despot -- John Cornwell * Sunday Times * Nassim Taleb, in his exasperating but compelling book Antifragile, praises "things that gain from disorder" - people, policies and institutions designed to thrive on volatility, instead of shattering in the encounter with it -- Oliver Burkman * Guardian * More than just robust or flexible, it actively thrives on disruption -- Julian Baggini * Guardian * Modern life is akin to a chronic stress injury. And the way to combat it is to embrace randomness in all its forms. . . Taleb is the great seer of the modern age * Guardian * Something antifragile actively thrives under the impact of the unexpected...to embrace randomness rather than trying to control it * The Sunday Times * Enduring volatility is one thing; what about benefiting from it? That is what Taleb calls 'antifragility' and he thinks that it is the ultimate model to aspire to - for individuals, financial institutions, even nations. . . May well capture a quality that you have long aspired to without having quite known quite what it is. . . I saw the world afresh * The Times * Taleb takes on everything from the mistakes of modern architecture to the dangers of meddlesome doctors and how overrated formal education is. . . . An ambitious and thought-provoking read . . . highly entertaining * Economist * This is a bold, entertaining, clever book, richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides. . . . I will have to read it again. And again * Wall Street Journal * [Taleb] writes as if he were the illegitimate spawn of David Hume and Rev. Bayes, with some DNA mixed in from Norbert Weiner and Laurence Sterne. . . . Taleb is writing original stuff-not only within the management space but for readers of any literature-and . . . you will learn more about more things from this book and be challenged in more ways than by any other book you have read this year. Trust me on this * Harvard Business Review * What sometimes goes unsaid about Taleb is that he's a very funny writer. Taleb has a finely tuned BS detector, which he wields throughout the book to debunk pervasive yet pernicious ideas. . . . 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, this book dares you not to read it * Los Angeles Times *
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Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an uncompromizing no-nonsense thinker for our times. He has spent his life immersing himself in problems of luck, uncertainty, probability, and knowledge, and he has led three high-profile careers around his ideas, as a man of letters, as a businessman-trader, and as a university professor and researcher. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University's School of Engineering. He is the author of the 4-volume INCERTO (Antifragile, The Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, and The Bed of Procrustes). Taleb refuses all awards and honours as they debase knowledge by turning it into competitive sports.
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