Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Hello all! We will meet online for a discussion of Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Per the publisher, "Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost thinkers of our time, reveals how to thrive in an uncertain world. Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls antifragile are things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. In The Black Swan, Taleb showed us that highly improbable and unpredictable events underlie almost everything about our world. Here Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary. What's more, the antifragile is immune to prediction errors and protected from adverse events. Why is the city-state better than the nation-state, why is debt bad for you, and why is what we call "efficient" not efficient at all? Why do government responses and social policies protect the strong and hurt the weak? Why should you write your resignation letter before starting on the job? How did the sinking of the Titanic save lives? The book spans innovation by trial and error, life decisions, politics, urban planning, war, personal finance, economic systems and medicine, drawing on modern street wisdom and ancient sources. Erudite, witty, and iconoclastic, Taleb's message is revolutionary: the antifragile, and only the antifragile, will make it."

You can get the book here in print: https://bookshop.org/a/30885/9780812979688 And here on Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto-ebook/dp/B0083DJWGO/

In the interest of connecting directly with the text, staying focused and covering as much material as we can in the allotted time, we've found that reading excerpts live throughout the meeting is quite useful for facilitating relevant discussion. So please use the link below to contribute any excerpts you think are notable or question provoking: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/187vDyG7dZthzypyoPU89YogKhhdiBjgA9_tcCXVzwJo/edit?usp=sharing

Whether you are a long time reader, new to the hobby, or are something in between, all are welcome! The only requirement is that you actually read the entire book. The first 10 minutes will be a meet and greet. Then we'll start the book discussion which typically lasts 2 hours, though we do sometimes go longer if there's enough interest.

This meetup will be held virtually via videoconferencing. Also note that this event will be co-hosted with two other book clubs, to ensure that we get enough participants to get a vibrant dialogue going. At the same time we will limit RSVPs so the conversation doesn't become unwieldy.

If you wish to contribute toward the cost of the NYC Book Club's meetup subscription, you can do so here: https://gf.me/u/y7ru5f