Much has been written about Nassim Taleb’s famous passage in The Black Swan about the antilibrary. (Farnam Street and Maria Popova) From The Black Swan (p1, 2008 Random House International Edition) “The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?” and the others — a very small minority — who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allows you …[Read More]
Nassim Taleb
What are the seismic forces that we can’t see?
In the last month since Brexit, I’ve been through some of the stages of shock and trauma. Stage 1 – Anger/Disbelief When Brexit first happened, I was in a daze. I remember getting up at 5am that Friday and feeling sick to the pit of my stomach. Angelique told me that on hearing the news, I punched the bedroom door really hard. I don’t remember. On my commute, I was dazed and looking at everyone with almost hate. Like they voted to leave. Stage 2 – Denial “We can have a second referendum.” “We don’t need to follow through.” “Parliament can overrule the will of the people.” Stage 3 – Blame “We’ve been robbed by the old.” “The old stole our opportunities.” “Chavs have burned the whole house down.” Stage 4 – Looking at the causes and what can we learn? This is where I’m at right now. Why did people …[Read More]