A condensed guide to life, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Bed of Procrustes is an invaluable collection of aphorisms to help you navigate the modern world. Why are we so often unwilling to accept that life is unpredictable? In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance and erudition against modern philistinism and phoniness. Only by accepting what we don't know, he shows, can we see the world as it really is. ...
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A condensed guide to life, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Bed of Procrustes is an invaluable collection of aphorisms to help you navigate the modern world. Why are we so often unwilling to accept that life is unpredictable? In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance and erudition against modern philistinism and phoniness. Only by accepting what we don't know, he shows, can we see the world as it really is. 'Happily provocative ... blistering ... his observations concern superiority, wealth, suckerdom, academia, modernity, technology and the all-purpose, ignorant "they" ... very quotable' The New York Times 'A master philosopher' The Times 'Taleb's crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems' Financial Times 'Opinionated and witty ... It showcases his wit and learning, and provides ways to fillet his enemies' Independent on Sunday
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One or two aphorisms per small chapter are worth thinking about and reading, but for mere mortals like me, without endless money to splurge, one is better off buying and very carefully reading other books by the same author. There are plenty of powerful one liners in The Black Swan, for example, which as a book is ever more rewarding the more often one plunges into it. This Procustes book has nothing special or extra to offer to this very great author's work, and should only be bought by total aficionados of the writer, like me, who see in him a great teacher, and want to know EVERYTHING.