56 Comments (page 1)

Impressively comprehensive post Kyle! I've read Anti-Fragile, and also loved it. It was very high value for being a 'not-so-difficult' read. Your post is much easier to understand! Thank you Cole

Less is more. I plowed through it but it was too much. Still, no regrets. Thanks.

You know, some things just make you say.... hmmmm, never thought of it that way before. After taking 2-1/2 hours to read this (yeah, I read slow---what about it?!?), I'm saying... hmmmm, never gonna think the same way again. Where does a punk kid (and I mean that in just the nicest way possible), learn to be so, what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, so heuristic, when an old guy like me is still struggling to find his own way? I liked the read. My mind is officially blown!

Very detailed and useful post. The hard work pays off in that the content is very valuable and appreciated. There is some stuff here and there that I don't agree with but the overwhelming majority of the concepts are new to me and very enlightening. I didn't know about Mr. Taleb before this article. Thank you, Kyle!

Solid post Kyle, this took me a while to read and process having to reread several parts... Certainly more of a resource rather than typical blog post. I love your philosophical views and hunger for life, similarly I enjoyed your section in Self Made U. My life got so much better when I unconsciously began doing antifragile things and adopting a more anti fragile lifestyle. I finished up my academic life and began doing the things I truly wanted to. Slowly the depression and anxieties of bullshit academic life lifted and I saw things in a new clarity. This clarity is MY clarity and it involves doing what I enjoy and taking action with tenacity. Shout out to all the folks out there who have gone through their personal hell and came out stronger. Negative emotions, illness, disease, hardship etc. Can all be used to learn about life and get better. Some people will forever be fragile wage slaves and I feel bad for them. Who on their death bed wants to utter the words "I wish I did that..." Cheers to the brave folks out there failing, flailing and struggling through the meandering path we call life. Chaos seems to be the only true constant and entrepreneurs leverage it.

Epic post. Thankyou. I will definitely refer to it over time, and think deeper about many sections to absorb it the best I can. It really blew my mind, as I have been aiming to be more planned, more organised, more predictive, forecasting my wealth/budgets etc, and have felt it has been to my detriment. Now I feel like I struggle to make small decisions, what brand of razor to buy? what drink shall I order?... This is timely too, as my job finishes in about 2 weeks - so I will hope to implement some of this in my life. Just reinforces that there are so many great minds out there, and that our human existence has been brought up on mostly solid bullshit. Cheers, Lee.

Wow, Kyle. This was very well done. Read the entire post from beginning to end, to honor the efforts of you and Nassim Taleb. One part that really struck me was the quote: "We often benefit from harm done to us by others; almost never from self-inflicted injuries." I have a tendency towards the masochistic side of "No Pain, No Gain," and I'm wondering if I do a lot of self-harm. Possibly. This is a HUGE perspective shift. Maybe I don't need to purposefully harm myself? Maybe other people will do it, and I will grow stronger from that, without purposefully arranging my life to make it as miserable and painful as possible? It seems that I really want to become antifragile, so I set up an extremely painful life for myself, not trusting the Universe to bring me pain in all of its randomness. Strange world we live in. I love it! Especially when things start to click, and you stop resisting the pain so much.

I have to admit that I still have to finish reading your blog post but... you had me at the real beginning! Bought that book, already have it in my Kindle atm... Thanks for the great suggestion-s, see you in the Antifragile Heaven ;) Irene SergerPepper.com

Holy shit. This is almost spooky. Like you've taken my experience of life over the past ~7 years and broken it down in neatly arranged points. It crystallizes a lot of the things going on in my head that I have a hard time explaining to others, and things I've observed and realized from my own experience. I never read Taleb's books, but this is my life almost down to the paragraph. Maybe this will be of value to you. Some time ago, I came up with 4 guiding principles (perhaps you'd think of them as heuristics). They came to me in the middle of the night, forcing me to get up and get them on paper... Everything in my life has been reduced to these four things: 1. There is no external authority. (Meaning: most people live their lives through the eyes of others, not realizing they themselves are the ultimate, supreme, sovereign authority in their lives... related to this article's point of "why we seek advice." One of the strongest urges among most people is to abdicate the responsibility for their own lives to some external agent. Parents, school, "the system," the guru, etc. People will go to extreme lengths in order to avoid being an actual person in their own right. "Think for yourself, or not at all") 2. Nothing ever goes wrong. (If you believe things do go wrong, it means you are in conflict with reality. The tsunami that wipes out a village is not "wrong." It just is. The ocean is never wrong. You can't argue against the ocean. If you believe it is bad or wrong, it just illuminates your own bullshit. Embrace reality, love your fate, and understand that anything that happens is the best thing that could possibly happen. It doesn't matter how bad it seems in the moment, because you cannot predict the future. You can't see the whole picture. The event that seems so horrible in the moment is like a single thread interwoven with many others in a large canvas called Your Life. And just because you can't see the whole picture doesn't mean it's not there to be seen.) 3. The next thing is the only thing. (Again, you can't predict the future. Nothing good that has ever happened in my life has come out of "making a plan and executing". I don't make plans. I don't know where my life is going. That's the point. I just focus on the thing in front of me - the next thing - and trust that whatever thing that will show up after that is going to be infinitely better than whatever I could have conjured up in my head and planned my way to on my own. More importantly: if I DID try to plan my way to success, I would be closed off to the opportunities that would otherwise present themselves...) 4. Memento mori. Remember you must die. (Awareness of death is the same as awareness of life. If you are not aware of your death, you cannot be aware of your life. Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Understand you're never getting those breaths back. The clock is ticking. There's an invisible expiry date stamped on your forehead. And it's closer than you think. Severe accidents we think only happen to "other people" are just around the corner; you could get hit by a bus tomorrow afternoon. And even if you die of old age, it's much closer than you imagine. Certainly, you'll realize this at 85, reflecting on how you always thought you would have more time. Accept and embrace the fact of your own death. (And forget any "how many people will show up at your funeral" bullshit... NEVER do anything based on other people's validation...)) That's it. Fantastic post.

It's funny how Taleb's work has gotten more and more friendly for the non-technical reader. The first book was a textbook on using options. Then Fooled by Randomness was his first work meant for mass consumption but it's still extremely technical. Black Swan a little less. He was getting comfortable being non-technical by the time Antifragile came. Thanks for the comment man!

Often it is. Sometimes, more is more - redundancy! lol

hahaha I read slow as well, I'm honored you took the time! And I'm grateful it could help change your thinking, even in a small way

Awesome Mario! I'm glad a lot of the ideas were new for you!

Amen! I'm happy you dug the book, too! (Love your site btw :D )

Hey Lee, I think we talked awhile about an entrepreneurial venture of yours - how is it going? Glad you liked the post! I really hope you implement the ideas in your life in a real way. They're SO helpful it's absurd.

Thanks Josh, I'm loving your site now. Great series on writing. "To a novice, obstacles are enemies. To a writer-craftsman, obstacles are allies." Nice, have you read Ryan Holiday's new book? It's pretty much just about that lol. I think that if you have the opportunity for self-harm then you aren't pushing hard enough. If the world isn't giving enough resistance then it's your job to go harder, not create problems for yourself. Easy said, terribly hard to do. The only way to "work against" yourself that makes any sense to me is covered in the "acute stressors" section. So I work against my muscles when I work out so they can get better. I work against my desires all the time (fasting, cold showers) in order to build willpower. But other than specific situations where you know you'll grow... there's no reason for it. Like you said, life serves up all the stressors we need lol

This is a great primer for the book, I think you'll only like these ideas more and more :)

First of all, Magnetism was great. I tore through it in 2 sittings. "Magnetism: “He has the power to influence others with the delight he takes in himself.”" Badass. I love your 4 principles. If you haven't read (or reread) Emerson's Self-Reliance... well, you've got to for #1. #2 reminds me of my mantra "amor fati". Nietzsche: “My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it—all idealism is mendaciousness in the face of what is necessary—but love it” 3 and 4 are great too, presence of mind and appreciation of impermanence... magic stuff. I'm curious - how do you keep these principles in front of you daily/hourly? I'm getting interested in ways to deeply ingrain ideas (aiming for religious-level faith). Thanks for the love! Glad you dug the post Linus.

Powerful stuff. Especially loved your insights about embracing depression. And making fewer decisions. Often, I feel guilty going for the "Low Hanging Fruit". But it is so obviously right in front of me, I can't help it. If nothing else, Buffet will help me feel less guilty. :p

Good Guy Buffett, always offering consolation to the lazy lol

That's a good question. I never really bought into the whole "creating systems in your life" thing that every blogger and his dentist is doing. Methodically following and implementing new habits, morning routines etc. Doesn't work for me or align with how I see the world. My time management system essentially boils down to: I do what I feel like doing when I feel like doing it. If something needs doing, I trust there will come a time when I feel like doing it. If such a time doesn't come, then it doesn't get done and didn't need doing. Sounds weird and counterintuitive, and the only reason it would ever work for anybody is if they have moved away from living their lives from a place of fear. Fundamentally there are two possible "operating systems" for human beings: fear or gratitude. If you are still in fear this absolutely doesn't make sense. If you are in gratitude, this is natural and effortless and works amazingly well. All this to say: these four principles are what I've arrived at after thinking hard about this kind of shit for the better part of a decade, lol. I just think about it constantly. I don't go out of my way to try to ingrain things in my brain. Things appear in my head, uninvited. I watch them and observe, and let them live or die on their own. Some ideas are antifragile and they just dig deeper roots for themselves as time goes on.

I fall into the same camp of doing what I want when... usually it's based on what I can best do with the mood/energy I currently have. Alain de Botton's <em>Religion for Atheists</em> has me wanting to create rituals though. Reminders of key ideas and rituals to ingrain them. It's an immediate version of institutionalizing ideas - taking them out of books and out of us and injecting them into environments. It's great how when you begin studying anything it becomes impossibly complex, then, after a while, if you keep pushing through, it becomes simple again. Smart-simple instead of stupid-simple. I wonder how much more your 4 principles mean to you than they could do anyone else. They recall a long process that was unique to you. Of course they'd be powerful for anyone to embody... Antifragile ideas embed themselves, indeed! What have you been working on?

You're definitely right about that. I think most people never get to grasp anything at a high level. Reduction to the essentials is really only possible when you really know what the hell you're talking about. You start by learning the fundamentals and you think you get it. Then you spend a couple years diving into something and come back to right where you started, now with a whole new perspective of what those fundamentals really mean... There's a lot of people who would read your comment about things becoming smart-simple and think they know exactly what you're talking about when, in reality, they haven't the slightest clue... And yes, absolutely, I can't imagine someone reading over my four little principles and inferring the same meaning and value out of them as I do. That's why you can't blindly follow and trust anyone else's rules. If someone wants to become a "sovereign person" in their own right, not only should they make their own rules, they kinda have to. I've been up to lots of stuff! How come I don't have y'alls on skype yet? Email me?

Kyle, I think you hit it right on the head. Too much free time on my hands leads to masochistic behavior that harms me...instead, I need to channel that into greater challenges. Time to read some more Warrior Mindset books, and really go much harder in my business pursuit (and becoming a writer-craftsman). I've heard much about Stoicism and Ryan Holiday, though I haven't read the book yet. I'm currently reading a bunch of books, and one of them is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Interesting mindset; I also like the Samurai mindset and the ethics of Bushido. I must trust life to deliver the right pain, and the BEST pain for my situation. I am learning to see Pain as my greatest ally. Apathy and Stagnation are the enemies.

BOOM! 10/10 Kyle. (Yeah, you're a ten!) Queue long-ass comment: ---------------------------------------- "Keep in mind that your progress will not look like a nicely sloping line up and to the right. No, no. It’s going to flat line, dip, plateau, then spike." --I think that this phenomenon also has a lot to do with how the brain takes on habits. How it goes through the "competence ladder." (going from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence)… That last step, when you get the habit and you automatically do things well, that comes VERY suddenly. You often don't notice it. "In short, the fragilista (medical, economic, social planning) is one who makes you engage in policies and actions, all artificial, in which the benefits are small and visible, and the side effects potentially severe and invisible. " – Nassim Taleb --From a political standpoint, this is why democracy is so flawed. The masses just wanted to be kept safe. And what do they want to feel safe from? Whatever threats they can ANTICIPATE, not the black swan events. Which is what they SHOULD, preemptively, be hedging themselves against to their best abilities. But no... Instead they are willing to give up their freedom and rights for stricter regulations that will "supposedly" make "them" safer. Except there is no them. Society is made up of individuals, and when the freedom of the individual is taken away, incrementally of course, society just gets LESS safe. So, the fragilistas (most people) end up harming themselves with their own ideas. "If you have more than one reason to do something, don’t do it." --This sounds really clever... But is it really? How does Taleb know this? Can you give some example(s) where this has proven particularly useful? I can understand that it may be a good heuristic for avoiding post-rationalizing your decisions and talking yourself into thinking that you "should" do something; ON DARWIN Haha. Damn, Darwin was a badass. Preferring to pursue studies of evolutionary biology and speaking to "clever men" over ladies any day of the week. ON YOUR MASSIVE IMMERSION &amp; READING PERIODS Interesting to hear. It's kind of the same thing for me. But slightly less extreme. I will admit that I am addicted to reading books and taking notes. ON PROCRASTINATION Not sure I agree. I think procrastination can serve a good function for highly intelligent and accomplished people. But for the average joe, it's just a bad habit that has been conditioned over time. How does the typical person procrastinate? By masturbating, watching TV, playing video games, or checking social media. SEEKING WISDOM I was wondering when you'd make a reference to that. It fit in so well here! Paraphrase: "If you can avoid common mistakes, you'll do better than most people." ON HEALTH &amp; FITNESS Taleb is a genius. But I am not taking his gym advice. He's on point about fasting, cold showers, etc... All those things help you break out of homeostasis, and grow stronger via hormesis. ON SOCIAL POLICY: Funny about Taleb's medical advice. I think he's right about it, but he's talking about American doctors. In Sweden it's the opposite. The doctors will try to reject you even if you have a serious problem, and if you somehow can convince them that your problem is serious enough to require medical attention, they will just do the safest/cheapest thing possible. It's complete crap. But, it's mostly governments subsidized. “Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.” – David Ogilvy --Great quote. Losers follow rules made by others, without questioning. Winners questions rules, and create their own based on trial and error. PS: I strongly recommend you watch this talk with Daniel Kahneman and Nassim Taleb. They discuss antifragility. It's long: 1h 17 min. I don't many YouTube vids, but this one was worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMBclvY_EMA

You made me bust out my text editor to reply to this. Impressive! <3 OKAY! (I’m only responding to disagreements because, well, they’re more fun/interesting :) ) - I always think of sudden consequence as a “click”. It’s the moment where enough of a skill has been internalized to leave the conscious mind completely out of it. ___ “If you have more than one reason to do something, don’t do it.” For me, it’s proved effective. Taleb cites a couple examples where he’s used it but, after this article, I’ve put Antifragile away for a while ;) For me, it’s the best way I know of “following my heart”… because I don’t really know how to follow a heart. A lot of times it’s the thing that has been nagging me for a long time but I avoid to do other things that “make more sense.” Examples: - This article. I’ve been avoiding it forever because I knew it would take a long time, I probably would do it badly, and there is NO demand for this kind of shit man. I have a list of 5 other articles that make much more business-sense to have published. There are few good business reasons to do this article. But I’ve been wanting to do it forever, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I did. - I went to a 6-week film program. There were no great reasons for me to do so other than I have this nagging feeling that I wanted to learn film. It would have made more sense for me to go to a writing program or nothing at all. Now that info is going to become extremely useful as we bring StartupBros into video. - I have no great reasons to be with my girlfriend. I’ve dated a lot of other girls that made much more sense, that fulfilled many more of my checkbox-requirements I have for a mate. But the idea of being with this girl just nagged at me. She stood on her own for no rational reason, and she’s the best choice by far. (Same with friends, the more reasons you have for being with them the harder you’re trying to like someone you actually don’t.) - I do this all the time to make decisions. It’s my best tool for avoiding leading a rationalized (dishonest) life. ____ ON IMMERSION/READING The key is awareness. Do you go to research as procrastination? Are you taking in information to FEEL productive when you should just be reading for pure pleasure? Consciousness of the relationship to info is the aim for me. ___ ON PROCRASTINATION Right. They can learn a lot about themselves if they take note of what they do before they procrastinate. Not all procrastinating is productive, but awareness of it can be. ___ SEEKING WISDOM Yeah, those boys are my favorite kind of simplicity. I’ve been tearing up Bevelin’s other stuff, too. And just ordered Poor Charlie’s Almanac… so excited. Farnam Street ran a great article on differentiating b/w loser’s and winner’s games: http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/06/avoiding-stupidity/ ____ ON HEALTH Fascinating! So, in some ways, an underfunded medical program could be helpful lol. Unfortunately, government-medicine in the US usually means MORE abuse and useless visits. ___ HOLY HOLY HOLY great interview find! I haven’t been more excited about watching a conversation in a long time. I actually started pulling from Thinking, Slow and Fast but this thing was just starting to get even more bloated. Thanks for that. And thanks a TON for the thoughtful comment man. I really appreciate having to dig in deeper to ideas and question ideas I hold.

Pressfield's The Warrior Ethos is a really fast, really badass read for the warrior mindset. I just finished Meditations, pretty great but gets super repetitive. That is actually interesting in itself though because you can see the exact things that this ruler had to keep reminding himself of in order to keep his sanity. One thing I noticed in your comment is the emphasis on finding new things to read... it sounds like you might benefit in a huge way from taking an Input Deprivation Week and focus on taking action on (and discovering what) you already know. I hope you'll pardon the unsolicited advice! I just see a similarity in the way I normally talk when I'm frustrated by feeling like I need more information when what I really need is to DO shit. Let me know what you think!

"... they kinda have to." Indeed, sir. Looking forward to talking with you! (Just emailed you)

Wow! I still can't believe i found this blog. There is so much information, knowledge and insights! I think I found the Starupbros 5 days ago and I can't stop read it. Starupbros is not just one of this standard bussines blogs that basicaly, using the initial quotation of the post, "explain things that they cannot do". I feel like I found the golden mine of the internet. Not just because of the knowledge that each of you teach us here, but because you put us in contact with certain ways of thinking that I would not even know that exist(this post is one good example). So, I would just want to say thank you for creating this amazing enterprise, that is helping me so much. (By the way, sorry for the english. I know I probably, in at least a couple of phrases, if not more, i looked like one caveman writing. So, yeah, english is not my first language).

Finally! I made it to the end. Took me 3 days and a traumatic experience with Animal Control to get through all this! The fact that I stuck with it, and came back day after day until I finished pretty much says it all! I usually give up 50 characters into a 140 character Twitter post! I've never read anything by Taleb, but none of this information seemed new. I don't mean that as a criticism. What I'm saying is that I felt like after reading this, a lot of the ways that have always "done life" were affirmed and finally clearly articulated! I found my self saying..."yes...Yes....YES..." in agreement with every sentence! (Expect for the procrastination part. Procrastination is TOXIC in my life!) Now I have a word for how I try to live: antifragile! Thanks for writing!

I'm so glad you're finding the site useful, Luiz! I'm interested, what IS your first language? Looking forward to having you in the community :D

Thanks for the awesome comment, Morgan! It's weird how seeing your beliefs put into words and relabeled can be such a powerful experience. It's awesome to know you :)

Thanks for the equally insightful answer, Kyle! "For me, it’s the best way I know of “following my heart”… because I don’t really know how to follow a heart." --That makes sense. "This article. I’ve been avoiding it forever because I knew it would take a long time, I probably would do it badly, and there is NO demand for this kind of shit man." --So true. So sad. "Now that info is going to become extremely useful as we bring StartupBros into video" -- Awesome to hear. "It’s my best tool for avoiding leading a rationalized (dishonest) life." -- Alright. I now understand the meaning of that aphorism a lot better. Thanks.

Hi Kyle, you have a good memory! Since last time, I had resigned from my job, (government) and moved to Canberra, my partner got work here as a student counsellor first, then I got a job as a 'data manager' at a not-for-profit organisation, but the place got the chop because of the new federal budget here in Australia and I finish soon. So I am currently looking for another job, and again also considering my web businesses and whats involved. - Ive been doing quite a bit of reading, but still yet to commit for various reasons. At this stage I am going to try and build "something" of value as a side venture/hobby/business...That way my risk is low, but can get an indication of what works etc. My partner has her website going, (now a side project for her) but no income attached yet. Will just keep it bubbling along for now, as she works on an ebook to sell via the site Its www.freecounsellingaustralia.com I'll let you know when I get my sites and business ideas ready to roll :) Cheers, keep up the good work. Lee.

Thanks for the update, Lee! I'm curious - what information can we provide that would most help you with your business now? (Feel free to comment here or email.)

Haha Thank you, Kyle. My first language is the Portuguese, I'm from Brazil.

Ahh!! Well, you type English beautifully.

It's easy for people to get ingrained in the day to day 'rat race' and not be interested in seeing what's happening 'behind the curtains'. You check off things from your daily task list, go to bed and repeat it again ad nauseum. And quite frankly, at various times, I find myself in the very same daily routine where you can't see the big picture. But once one has taken the time to step back and put some reasoning into his existence, it's hard not to go back to the daily routine with the big picture in mind: Once you've heard the music it's part of you forever. Ideas are like ultra powerful viruses: the mere fact of describing them or even merely alluding to them initiates their viral propagation. It's interesting to me to see the different ways we use our creativity to express this 'big picture view', that realization that stems from taking a step back from your daily routine. Your essay, Kyle, is fantastic in that is allows us to see this 'big picture', but through a different set of eyes than our own: yours! A while back, I felt the urge to express my perception of these truths about life and it took the form of 4 pictures that I painted on a wall in my house. They were a simplistic/rudimentary way to describe 4 forces/values that are critical in my (our?) life: Share, Now, Risk, New. * Share is the energy to give back from our experiences. If we do everything in a vacuum, we are missing out on a great opportunity: the opportunity for our life to become viral. Not necessarily on a large scale, but even at the micro level, this propagation is essential. * NOW! This is the time to act. If something is worth doing, there's no reason to delay it further. Most people get stuck in the day to day and never get to the important stuff: "NOW" is the only time these important things should live in * Risk represents stepping outside of our comfort zone and doing things differently. In essence it is setting ourselves up for failure. Through these abnormal/different/novel/disruptive actions, ideas and opportunities will emerge and in one way or another, we might come out stronger/better/faster. But one thing is for sure, we will come out differently (an essential aspect of anti fragility) * New! is the variation, the novel approach that is essential in our existence. The other 3 aspects get painful if there is no innovation, creativity, novelty in their undertaking. 'New' is the spice in this dish. It is what keeps things interesting even when facing adversity. It is what makes the process self iterating. I have not ready any of Taleb's books yet, but for me, Antifragility originates from those 4 structural pillars: they enable it, reinforce it and even go one step beyond: they make it go viral! Seek change NOW, and share your experiences! Thanks for a great post and for great perspectives!

Thanks for such a badass comment, Eric! I love The 4! Do you still have the paintings? Are they still hung up? I'd love to see these things! One of the wild things to me is how similar all these methods are. Your four are different than Linus' (his:(1) There is no external authority; (2) Nothing ever goes wrong; (3) The next step is the only step; (4) Memento mori), yet they lead to a remarkably similar life. Not in content but in posture: one that allows us to positively add to and alter the world around us. One that can overcome the chasm of doubt - existential and otherwise. I'm fascinated by HOW people cement ideals in their lives - do you have a ritual that you follow to remind yourself of these daily? (Looking at the paintings, going through a list, ....)

Indeed it was Linus' comment that motivated me to share this. Very interesting how ideas take different shapes yet convey a very similar base meaning. For me, I was so 'gong ho' about these 4 concepts that I painted them in my home office... As in permanently. 4 large frames of about 10 sq.ft. each. And a few years ago, well, we moved! I have no idea if they still stand there, but I suspect they didn't survive too long: It's not like they were Picassos or anything! I did not create them for the world to see, but because 1) I had to express them , and 2) as a daily reminder to myself, my family, coworkers, etc, as to the values that are important to me. So for many years, it was the first thing I saw when I started my day, and the last one I left the office with. But now, they only live in a few electronic photos that are occasionally shared. The values are still there, but the paintings are not. I have not re-painted the frames. For me, the culmination of these values took a very tangible form a few years ago that I am still living to this day! My family and I changed everything in our lives, and now, everyday we wake up in an environment that remind us of those 4 values. What does antifragility look like in your home? Do you have a daily routine/reminder/object that keeps the concept omnipresent?

I want to see this pictures! Will you share them with us here? Or feel free to email them... even the Importing Empire group would dig them :) That's such an awesome example of using art/design to make massive shifts in the way a group of people can live. Businesses rarely use tools to that effect, even families rarely do... it's a shame we don't take time to commit to shared values with the people we most love. BUT YOU DID! That, sir, is a book. That's a great question. I don't have any physical objects that are there explicitly to remind me of antifragility (Will and I have 3 Startupvitamin posters hanging up: "Get shit done", "Think Bigger", and "Are you being productive or just busy?" and I have a sticker on my laptop "Alway deliver more than expected", so there ARE certain things). My lifestyle and habits are reminders of antifragility: the decision-making heuristics, the cold showers, the fast/feast eating, the piles of books everywhere... all sorts of stuff. It's been so front-of-mind for me that it's actually the one thing I least need reminders of. What I DO want to introduce are physical reminders of certain aspects of antifragility and other philosophies. Some things I've considered: painting "amor fati" on a large canvas and putting it in front of my bed, an ouroboros tattoo, a painting of seneca, a painting of a skull... Alain de Botton's <em>Religion for Atheists</em> has me wanting to ritualize certain habits. This is something I've been thinking about a lot... and probably won't be able to help but post about here in the next couple months.

All I can say is ..glad to have found this ... currently in the midst of one of those "let's go for it " transitions in my life and still stuck at the "plucking along " stage without seeing the breakthrough. My barbell is very very heavy on the risk side side at the moment since I followed Cortés ship burning model. Felt good at the time ( still does actually ) . It definitely has helped to increase my stoic capacity .. briefly interrupted by intense bouts of fear :) But so far in my last 55 yrs. things always had a tendency to work out just fine..and it was never a " according to plan " solution. So I assume in the end this time won't be any different. Cheers Michael

Burned ships :D I've done quite a bit of that as well! I do like taking away subpar choices... even if that means taking away plan b. Is Desmira the thing you're going for?

kind of ..fully immersed in the mobile lead generation arena..not really sure though about my place and unique advantage yet. Learned a hell of a lot in the last 7 months or so. Slowly gaining the confidence (at least on most days) to try unique concepts and approaches. Right now though solidly stuck in mediocre territory ..and hate it with a passion :)

I doubt it's as mediocre as you think if you're trying different things and learning... maybe mediocre results, but that's temporary.

Aphorisms are tough to get to hit home man, but when they do... KAPOW

This reminds me of the woods behind my house, there are large trees that have stood for years and at the edge of the woods there are those small saplings that I have continuously run over with the lawn mower but keep coming back. If I were to take a chainsaw to the big trees they would likely die, but the small trees that have been brutally hacked every week have grown to accept this and have claimed there place through true struggle. I would much rather be a gnarly, hardened sapling than a large tree that can be destroyed by a small storm.

Awesome analogy, thanks Lucas!

What year was this written? Other bloggers can't cite you without a year!

2014, but most would anyway :P I'm looking forward to reading your piece!

Good read. The point that hit me most was how detriment (fragile lol) self-imposed "perfect" schedules are. Took notes of many other interesting points, and will drop by few more times to digest the rest.

Nice! I'd love to see your notes :)

Great post Kyle. Great job. Missing other parts that Nassim uses, Danny Kahnamen's many biases, Nassim and him are very similar and friends, Bent's work on Project Management and the great Murray Gill-Mann. He ties in complexity, which integrates it all, Nassim is a big fan of Murray and calls him the greatest scientist alive, which he is.

Just read this and loved it. You all may have moved on by now, but it's a shining light to where I'm at today. Thanking you x

Really interesting stuff, with deep ideas behind it. Thank you for putting it together.

Thanks for inspiring me to take some risks in order to move on from things that aren't working for me.