121–130 of 341 posts
Antifragile - Nassim Nicholas Taleb He puts into words concepts of life so close to us yet so foreign sounding that makes us rethink everything in our lives. When you ask people "What is the opposite of fragile", they usually answer robust, which Taleb proves to be incorrect by introducing a new concept, the Antifragilty. It entangles so many things in economic, academic, science, finances and other systems with seve…
Which Taleb's book should I read first?
We know the "rich", people who spent $10M on a Yacht as a parking space for their 1M private jet which they use as a cellar for their $10k wines.
And we think millionaires are like that but on a smaller scale. ACTUALLY... most folks who have $1M liquid are hard working, cheap, frugal (still cutting coupons from ads). The reason why this book is so good is not only because it shatters the perception about how millionaires live, but if you take the description of their lifestyles as a lesson, it will make you manage your money better.
Most people in the US have tons of debt, don't have $500 to use for an unplanned spending. Probably this forum full of well-paid high-tech professionals less so, but still, the principles are all the same. In fact, there are parts of the book talking about how big earners also spend big (and fast), so it's a good reminder of how not spending money is as good as earning it, and also usually easier to do.
Antifragile - Nassim Nicholas Taleb He puts into words concepts of life so close to us yet so foreign sounding that makes us rethink everything in our lives. When you ask people "What is the opposite of fragile", they usually answer robust, which Taleb proves to be incorrect by introducing a new concept, the Antifragilty. It entangles so many things in economic, academic, science, finances and other systems with seve…
Which Taleb's book should I read first?
"How Buildings Learn", by Stewart Brand. It's about architecture over time - how buildings change and evolve (and eventually die), to suit the needs of their owners and occupants, and how they deal with the three enemies of al buildings (time, money, and water).
This book really fueled my interest in legacy software, and how the software lifecycle actually works. I recommend it highly to all software professionals.
Sapiens by Yuri Harari The book is simple mind blowing. It seems as if the entire history of homo sapiens which we learned in school was wrong. There was no slow progression, homo Sapiens and Neanderthals existed in the same time as did many ither species like homo erectus, but the perished before Sapiens. It seems that our ability to form fictional entities (like money, state, society, country, religion etc) made us…
Sapiens by Yuri Harari The book is simple mind blowing. It seems as if the entire history of homo sapiens which we learned in school was wrong. There was no slow progression, homo Sapiens and Neanderthals existed in the same time as did many ither species like homo erectus, but the perished before Sapiens. It seems that our ability to form fictional entities (like money, state, society, country, religion etc) made us…
Sapiens by Yuri Harari The book is simple mind blowing. It seems as if the entire history of homo sapiens which we learned in school was wrong. There was no slow progression, homo Sapiens and Neanderthals existed in the same time as did many ither species like homo erectus, but the perished before Sapiens. It seems that our ability to form fictional entities (like money, state, society, country, religion etc) made us…
I just started reading it and am through the first 100 pages. Was reading it last night when I hit upon : US Declaration of Independence document is an imagined reality - a myth. It talks about equality of all men ( was hoping to read word human there but anyway ). And then he goes onto blow away the fact how all men are not equal - biologically - evolutionary and so on.
I do not necessarily agree with a lot of things he says but the book is a riveting read and does questions some of fundamental assumptions we have made.
I can't wait to discover what the book has to offer next. It is very thought provoking.
Stoicism helped me build the ability to care about the things in my power to change, and not stress about things that aren't. Very useful in any job or personal situation that includes a lot of ambient stress.