The Bed of Procrustes

Nasim gives a brief intro about Procrustes. A cruel ruler who put small people on large beds and large ones on the small to torture them. While he distinguishes between the bed and the person lying on the bed situation- Taleb shares that rather than changing the beds, the person who lays on them can be provided with worldly knowledge and saved from Procrustes's torture.

Taleb gives some plain aphorisms, in his own blunt and bold manner. The Taleb way has always been harsh and brutal but the credibility with which he comes just overpowers everything. I have quoted a few of them here : 

1. Your brain is more intelligent when you don't instruct it on what to do -ideas while walking, shower.
2. Life is repetitive stress injury - Eg gym, work and home over and over.
3. MORE THE PRECISION MORE DEAD YOU ARE.
4. If anger is increasing you are getting injustice, if decreasing you are doing injustice.
5. Nothing is more permanent than temporary arrangements -truces, deficits and relationships and nothing is more temporary than permanent ones.
6. The test you really like a book is you re read it how many times. You really like someone's company is you are ready to meet over and over again.
7. Appearance of inconsistency - not absence makes people attractive.
8. Sacred and profane - Differentiate using observation - religion, art.
Sacred is unconditional, profane is all conditional.
9. Someone who says I am busy is either declaring incompetence and lack of control of his life or trying to get rid of you.
10. Those who talk about love, tend to be in love, but those who talk about happiness cannot be happy.
11. Modernity - We created youth without heroism, age without wisdom and life without grandeur.
12. Good practice to apologize more often, unless you have dome something wrong.
13. Instead of role models, go for anti role models.
14. Unsuccessful people gives the most number of advices.
15. There are two types of people - Those who win and those who win arguments.
16. Only measure of success is how much time you are giving.
17. Men destroy others during war and each other when not on war.
18. You have a real life if you don't compete with anyone in any of the persuades.
19. We are hunters, we are only truly alive in the moments when we improvise, just small surprises and stimuli from the environment.
20. On books, reading and literature - With regular books, read the text and ignore footnotes, with books written by academics read footnotes and skip the text, and with business books skip both.
21. Academics try to impress other academics, models other models but authors who try to impress editors tend to fail.
22. The exponential information is like verbally incompetent person.
23. Regular minds find similarity while finer minds notice differences.
24. What I learned on my own I still remember.
25. True love is the victory of particular over the general.
26. Suckers trap is when you know what other don't rather than reverse.
27. Mental clarity is child of courage.
28. Most motivated to help those who needs us the least.
29. Art is onesided conversation with unobserved.
30. Cheapest misers can be generous with advice.
31. Weak men act to satisfy needs while strong men their duties.
32. The difference between magnificence and arrogance is what one does when no one is looking. When conflict in between 2 choices, take none.
Robustness vs Fragile
33. Robustness is progress without impatience.
34. Robust -Error is information. Fragile- Error is error.

35. KNOWLEDGE is SUBTRACTIVE not ADDITIVE. We subtract what not to do. Also a way to detect Charlatan.
36. Real mathematician understand completeness real philosophers understand incompleteness.
37. What makes sense doesn't really make sense.
38. Markets and models both are stupid.
39. Jenson's inequality.
40. If you try to be an alpha you will never be one.
41. Avoid words.
42. Connects the magnificent to Nicomachean Ethics - The magnificent i.e. the meglapsychos are always unconditional. 
42. Half the people lie with their lips and other half with tears.
43. Love without sacrifice is like theft.
44. A good foe is way better than good admirer for wise.
45. Classical Values - elegance, courage and erudition(having or showing knowledge that is gained by studying) against modernity, nerdiness and philistinism(derogatory term philistine describes a person who is narrow-minded and hostile to the life of the mind, whose materialistic worldview and tastes indicate an indifference to cultural and aesthetic values)

Taleb covers - Employees, Charlatans, Philosophers, economists, stock markets, social media, love, marriage etc. From linearity and non linearity, robustness and fragility, randomness and simplicity, observable and unobservable -Nasim has aphorism for almost every topic-regulations, top down governments, academia, employment etc. and at last gives the importance to aphorism way- Used by philosophers, expedition, Religious texts, for boosting, grandmother to advice grandchildren. Each aphorism is a complete unit, complete narrative disassociated from others.

A good book, a must read as Nasim packs wisdom in less than 200 pages.