Snub your destiny. I have taught myself to resist running to keep on schedule. This may seem a very small piece of advice, but it registered. In refusing to run to catch trains, I have felt the true value of elegance and aesthetics in behavior, a sense of being in control of my time, my schedule, and my life. Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking.

You stand above the rat race and the pecking order, not outside of it, if you do so by choice.

–Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan

What an unexpected way to end your essay, Mr. Taleb.

Granted the above mentioned quote is far from what the entire book is about, it’s quite a relief to know that all his strong criticism and snarky comments against bank executives and social scientists is coming from a place of consideration, not just arrogance.

Taleb’s grand mission in exposing the “great intellectual fraud” is rooted on a deeper level of concern for how people’s actions are affected by the way we process information.

I welcome the change in perspective. But man, what a complex way to view the world. (If David Foster Wallace opened our eyes to the existence of water, Taleb sought to spread awareness of both the water and the fishbowl!)

Looking forward to reading it again. I hope by then I have mustered enough patience to read through the technical presentations of his epistemological brilliance.