Owing to the lately grueling (and odd) hours at work along with my failure to make enough time, it took me a month to read this book. However, in all honesty, this was a god damn masterpiece. Totally worth the effort and wait.
Real life is full of disorder. Some things (people, systems, organizations, etc.) break because of this disorder and some don't. The ones which break are referred to as "fragile" while the others, "robust". Till now, our conversations are mostly centered around being "strong", in other words, robust. We believe that in the face of disorder, the opposite of 'breaking' is 'not breaking', because that's as good as it gets. But what if instead of 'not breaking', something 'gains' because of the same disorder? In that case, would the opposite of fragile still be robust? No, it'll be 'anti-fragile'. That's what this book is all about.
Consider a situation where relationships between couples burn en masse. Which institution do you think would be 'fragile' because of this disorder? Perhaps Marriage. And which one would be "anti-fragile"? Mental Health Counselling. Rise in screw ups will help the counselling industry flourish. I hope you get the point. .
As an entrepreneur, I was totally intrigued by the concept of anti-fragility. Having read other books by Taleb, I was hopeful to not be disappointed. But god, this book was a miracle! I was literally laughing hysterically in public places after reading some passages, while taking thoughtful pauses of bewilderment in others. This book was extraordinarily brilliant and successfully humbled me with its vast knowledge of, well...so many things!
So glad to have read it!
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