Nassim Taleb

Is an antilibrary, on it own, really such a good thing?

Edmond Chan · Sep 23, 2018 · Leave a Comment

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 …

What are the seismic forces that we can’t see?

Edmond Chan · Jul 27, 2016 · Leave a Comment

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 …