Things that gain from disorder is a book by nassim nicholas taleb published on. From the bestselling author of the black swan and one of the foremost thinkers of our time, nassim nicholas taleb, a book on how some things actually benefit from disorder. He proposes replacing prediction with classifying systems and things as fragile, robust of antifragile. Antifragile, by nassim nicholas taleb the new york times. Likewise with randomnessuncertaintychaos, you want to be able to use them, not to hide from them.
Things that gain from disorder taleb reports on his findings. Taleb is the author of the incerto, a five volume philosophical essay on uncertainty published between 2001 and 2018 of which the most known books are the black swan and antifragile. Antifragile is a standalone book in nassim nicholas talebs landmark incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk. The other books in the series are fooled by randomness, the black swan, and the bed of procrustes. In the black swan taleb outlined a problem, and in antifragile he offers a definitive solution. Antifragile is a standalone book in nassim nicholas talebs landmark incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decisionmaking in a world. Antifragile should be a mandatory read for all policy makers and investment bankers. 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. Antifragile by nassim nicholas taleb, paperback barnes.
Explains how we missed the word antifragility in classrooms. Antifragile by nassim taleb things that gain from disorder wind extinguishes a candle but energises fire. The bestselling author of the black swan explains the concept of his new book, antifragile, and how we can thrive in a. Taleb s bestselling 2007 book the black swan and his earlier book fooled by randomness. The other books in the series are fooled by randomness, the black swan, skin in the game, and the bed of procrustes. In that way, it as rich on page 400 as it is on page 2. Antifragile is a kind of sequel or logical followon to mr. Full version nassim nicholas taleb explains antifragile.
This book builds on the black swan taleb puts forward evidence and definitions for fragility, robustness and antifragility, and explains where they apply in life, and why you want to strive for antifragility. Things that gain from disorder by nassim nicholas taleb. A reader could easily run out of adjectives to describe nassim nicholas taleb s new book antifragile. So taleb has taken it upon himself to name and explore this curious property and its implications. Antifragile is a standalone book in nassim nicholas talebs landmark incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decisionmaking in a world we dont understand. He has been a professor at several universities, serving as a distinguished professor of risk engineering at the new york university tandon school of engineering. In essence, being antifragile encompasses benefiting from an unfortunate black swan event through having made a fortuitous counterintuitive decision beforehand. Antifragile is a standalone book in nassim nicholas talebs landmark incerto. The antifragile concept was presented by nicholas nassim taleb through his books, fooled by randomness, the black swan, and most recently, antifragile. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. The problem with antifragile is that it is a deeply antisocial book. Simply, antifragility is defined as a convex response to a stressor or source of harm for some range of variation, leading to a positive sensitivity to increase in volatility or variability, stress, dispersion of outcomes, or uncertainty, what is grouped under the designation disorder cluster. How to live in a world we dont understand by nassim. The author says that the increased complexity of our society also makes our society more fragile.
As the title would suggest, what taleb has found is that most complex systems not only gain from small stressors, but they are designed to gain more. Some of the ideas are expanded in talebs fifth book. Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a black swan world. Nassim taleb will be in conversation with ed smith at union chapel, london n1 tomorrow at 7pm. In addition to his life as a trader he spent several years as a distinguished professor at new york universitys school of engineering and also as deans professor at u.
This distinction hints at the subtle but resonant concept that taleb left explores in his new book, antifragile. Things that gain from disorder the traderphilosopherprofessors followup to the immensely timely and popular if widely misconstrued black swan. Nassim nicholas taleb, the bestselling author of the black. Leconomiste iconoclaste nassim nicholas taleb poursuit son travail sur le risque des evenements imprevus dans son nouveau livre, antifragile. Antifragile is a standalone book in nassim nicholas taleb s landmark incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decisionmaking in a world we dont understand. Taleb talks about fragile and antifragile jobs in this context. Obsessive love is the most antifragile thing outside of economics. An authors job is antifragile you cannot fire an author from it, and a desire to reduce the sales of his books will more. James carse, the director of religious studies at new york university, wrote a book, finite and infinite games, that explores the difference between. Taleb interacts with the economic masters of the universe as he jets from new. Taleb is an independent thinker who is almost impossible to categorize.
New book skin in the game, hidden asymmetries in daily life. The bestselling author of the black swan explains the concept of his new book, antifragile, and how we can thrive in a world that is unpredictable, chaotic and full. The other books in the series are fooled by randomness,the black swan, skin in the game, and the bed of procrustes. The book spans innovation by trial and error, life decisions, politics, urban planning, war, personal finance, economic systems and medicine, drawing on modern street wisdom and ancient sources. Neil soni, who came on for episode 7, rejoined me to do an indepth breakdown of the book antifragile by nassim nicholas taleb. He argues that things can be fragile but the opposite of the fragile is not robust, which are simply things that would break with greater difficult than the fragile. Unlike many books of this genre, which spend 200 pages padding a 5 page idea, antifragile is a fractal of a book, taking its central ideas and examining and applying them in myriad ways. This book builds upon ideas from his previous works including fooled by randomness 2001, the black swan 20072010, and the bed of procrustes 20102016 and is the fourth book in the fivevolume philosophical treatise on uncertainty titled incerto.
Hidden asymmetries in daily life furthers the idea, asserting it is necessary for fairness, commercial efficiency. Nassim nicholas taleb, the bestselling author of the black swan. Vol 1 of the technical incerto will be out in april. I am pretty sure people will still be reading taleb s two previous books in 10 years time. Nassim taleb is a trader himself and many of the lessons from this book he learned by trading in highly volatile currency markets. The central theme of the book is antifragility, which taleb defines in the prologue. Antifragile things that gain from disorder by taleb nassim. For me, antifragile completely changed how i thought about work and life, and i.
Antifragile things that gain from disorder by nassim nicholas taleb part 3 of incerto completed. Its a book that has come up repeatedly as having a huge impact on peoples thinking and is one of both of our favorite books. Erudite, witty, and iconoclastic, taleb s message is revolutionary. Most continue readingantifragile by nassim nicholas taleb. An excellent book that has influenced my thinking more than almost any other, and continues to be a reference i go back to.