Someone here asked me to comment on Nassim Taleb’s aphorisms found in his Bed of Procustes book. I believe there are 212 of them, huge work considering that we are advised to ponder on no more than four of them a day.
They also follow a personal logic, so some of them will appeal more to you than others, depending on who you are and what your perspective is. It’s logical for me, that I like these:
“If powerful assholes don’t find you “arrogant,” it means you are doing something wrong.” This one has my name on it.
More:
“We need to feel a little bit lost somewhere, physically or intellectually, at least once a day.”
“Never hire an A student unless it is to take exams.” What if I turned this around and said: Never hire a HBS grad unless you’re looking for failure. How many [more] haters would I get ? The more the better.
“Did you notice that collecting art is to hobby-painting as watching pornography is to doing the real thing? Only difference is status.” -this is going to hurt some people
“The alpha person at a gathering of “high status” persons is often, delectably, the waiter.” -very, very antifragile statement here
“Success in all endeavors requires the absence of specific qualities…6) But to succeed in life requires a total inability to do anything that makes you uncomfortable when you look at yourself in the mirror.
“Studying the work and intellectual habits of a “genius” to learn from him is like studying the garb of a chef to emulate his cooking.” That’s a tough one to swallow if you’re a Buffett buff. Shorthand is you learn by doing.
“Never show a risk number, even if it is right.” I don’t know if I can let that sink in.
“A good book gets better on the second reading. A great book on the third. Any book not worth rereading isn’t worth reading.”
“High Modernity: routine in place of physical effort, physical effort in place of mental expenditure, and mental expenditure in place of mental clarity.”
“A heuristic on whether you have control of your life: can you take naps?” Is anybody out there who can raise his hand ?
“In real life exams, someone gives you an answer and you have to find the best corresponding questions.”
Ok, enough of these for today, especially considering we are to give thoughts to no more then four of these per day.
Today I’m giving a small win to my enemies:
How to Fire Anyone Video (starring George Clooney):
Why give a tip to corporate overlords ? Am I missing something ?
I mean, what they do is fire people. They have less class than George Clooney does.
Those of us who are fighters, we need to start thinking in terms of "antifragile", to use a Taleb word.
Max is redefining what it means to be antifragile.