Some of Taleb’s advice is solidly practical. If you’re interested in a high-risk career such as acting, he suggests using “the barbell strategy” by pursuing acting along with another stable career, like accounting, thereby exposing yourself to maximum positive risk. In the worst-case scenario, you’re a respectable accountant engaged in the local theater scene; at best, a superstar actor who never had to starve.

In the realm of science, he applauds aimless research and the all-important happy accident, arguing that we often squash the potential of randomness because researchers study increasingly narrow fields. “Knowledge, or what is called ‘knowledge,’ in complex domains inhibits research.

“But readers will only digest these sizable granules of wisdom if they can stomach Taleb himself. His Everest-sized ego gives the book the tone of a brilliant dinner party guest off his meds.

via Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s ‘Antifragile’ dares us to expect the unexpected: Book review – latimes.com.