“They think that intelligence is about noticing things are relevant (detecting patterns); in a complex world, intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant (avoiding false patterns)”
“You may never know what type of person someone is unless they are given opportunities to violate moral or ethical codes.”
“Love without sacrifice is like theft”
―
Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
Some quotes just make you laugh:
“If you want to annoy a poet, explain his poetry.”
“People focus on role models; it is more effective to find antimodels - people you don't want to resemble when you grow up”
“Suckers try to win arguments, nonsuckers try to win.”
“Remember that you are a Black Swan.” (DR: this would be a new username, if I could.)
“If you hear a "prominent" economist using the word 'equilibrium,' or 'normal distribution,' do not argue with him; just ignore him, or try to put a rat down his shirt.”
“The problem of knowledge is that there are many more books on birds written by ornithologists than books on birds written by birds and books on ornithologists written by birds”
―
Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
