Antifragile

Things That Gain from Disorder

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Narrated by: Joe Ochman

Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

From the best-selling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost thinkers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some things actually benefit from disorder.

In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem, and in Antifragile he offers a definitive solution: how to gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. For what Taleb calls the "antifragile" is actually beyond the robust, because it benefits from shocks, uncertainty, and stressors, just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension. The antifragile needs disorder in order to survive and flourish.

Taleb stands uncertainty on its head, making it desirable, even necessary, and proposes that things be built in an antifragile manner. The antifragile is immune to prediction errors. Why is the city-state better than the nation-state, why is debt bad for you, and why is everything that is both modern and complicated bound to fail? The audiobook spans innovation by trial and error, health, biology, medicine, life decisions, politics, foreign policy, urban planning, war, personal finance, and economic systems. And throughout, in addition to the street wisdom of Fat Tony of Brooklyn, the voices and recipes of ancient wisdom, from Roman, Greek, Semitic, and medieval sources, are heard loud and clear.

Extremely ambitious and multidisciplinary, Antifragile provides a blueprint for how to behave - and thrive - in a world we don't understand, and which is too uncertain for us to even try to understand and predict. Erudite and witty, Taleb’s message is revolutionary: What is not antifragile will surely perish.

Please note: The bleeps in the audio are intentional and are as written by the author. No material is censored, and no audio content is missing.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2012 Nassim Nicholas Taleb (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"[This] is the lesson of Taleb...and also the lesson of our volatile times. There is more courage and heroism in defying the human impulse, in taking the purposeful and painful steps to prepare for the unimaginable." (Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point)

"[Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne." (The Wall Street Journal)

"The most prophetic voice of all.... [Taleb is] a genuinely significant philosopher...someone who is able to change the way we view the structure of the world through the strength, originality and veracity of his ideas alone." (GQ)

excellent

this book is excellent, and should be required reading for all student levels. an excellent reduce for common sense.
I recommend everyone read this book.

A commentary on all things practical

Nassim Nicholas Taleb offers a no-nonsense commentary on how risk is managed in our world, and how it can be better understood. He offers practical applications of his ideas in the public, private, and personal sectors of life. He pulls no punches, critiquing politicians, libraries, large corporations, individual propensities, school systems, and all of the other things that drive us crazy in life.

This book has altered my life-philosophy, which I thought was very well-established to begin with. READ IT!

Mind blowing

It is impossible to reading this book and not be challenged. His basic framework can give insight to countless fields. I will be buying this for my most thoughtful and intelligent friends.

Content and Delivery Perfectly Matched

Flawless performance in reading by Joe Ochman. Pacing and emphasis were outstanding. Content - while surely controversial - is equally thought-provoking to the open minded listener. Will certainly give this a listen again.

Great book ruined by small minded idiots

What made the experience of listening to Antifragile the most enjoyable?

What made it least enjoyable was some small group of cretins at Random House who decided they should censor various words with which they have trouble with.

I suggest to anyone who can't handle the word bull $hit and the like should go back to reading picture books.

Random House, you should be ashamed.

What does Joe Ochman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He performed great.

Mindblowing Ideas!

Loved this book. Extremely important and interesting ideas with lots of real world implications. After reading this book, the author is now a hero of mine

brilliant dissertation on antifragility

On the subject on how fragile systems can be and the impact to humans who also rely on such systems, I am impressed by the thoroughness of the authors treatment and brilliance in articulating the distinction between fragility and anti fragility. Especially the point of view of Fat Tony on suckers...

Are you Antifragile?

Interesting concepts presented in this book are helpful in building a better framework for thriving when facing challenges.

Good book, Dull narration

The narrator of "Black Swan" is the best for Taleb's books. This one easily gets me bored on prolonged listening. Should have a hard copy.

Arrogantly offputting.... if he wasn't so smart.

Where does Antifragile rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Unique perspective with real utility. Top quartile.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

Applying a scientific and intelligent rationale for traditionalism.

What about Joe Ochman’s performance did you like?

Read with believably conceited indignation which would have been off-putting were it not earned and justified.

If you could give Antifragile a new subtitle, what would it be?

"I spit in your general direction"

Any additional comments?

As a physician and leader, I'm drawn to innovative ideas that can guide our work and lives in a healthier and more fulfilling manner. Taleb's principles provide a compelling counter to our tendency to over-engineer and "fragilize" our lives and businesses. Resonant.