The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms [Hardcover]

 

 

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My twelve year old son picked up the book at my local bookstore and could not put it down. While many of the aphorisms confused him, most made him think and he began to ask quite a few questions. Soon we were discussing various points and had more than a few laughs at the many victims of Taleb's wit. I wound up buying the book and picking up two extra copies as gifts for people who I am sure will enjoy reading discussing it, even if they are offended by some of Taleb's pronouncements.

Those that have read Taleb and are familiar with his books will have little trouble recognizing that the book is a further exploration of his theme of how individuals deal, and how they should deal, with what they do not know. And they will quickly find that Taleb's harsh view of fools is what it has always been. If you are easily offended and have the characteristics or opinions of those that Taleb skewers time after time you may not like this book. But if you have an open mind, an ego that does not need stroking, and thick skin you will probably love it.

As usual, Taleb is brilliant. His tone is sharp and his writing style is lucid. He begins by briefly going over the the myth of the cruel Procrustes (whose name meant 'the stretcher' in ancient Greek). Procrustes, whose real name may have been Damastes or Polyphemon, lived on an estate in Attica on the road between Athens and Eleusis. He would abduct travelers and provide them with a very nice diner. After the diner was over he would place them in his special bed where they would be fitted perfectly. That meant that those that were too short would be stretched while those that were too long would have their feet or legs chopped off. Taleb reminds the reader that every one of the sayings is about the same subject as, "we humans, facing limits of knowledge, and things we do not observe, the unseen and the unknown, resolve the tension by squeezing life and the world into crisp commoditized ideas, reductive categories, specific vocabularies, and prepackaged narratives, which, on the occasion, has explosive consequences."

Those familiar with the themes in Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable will immediately recognize this book as a link to the previous discussions. As usual, Taleb does not spare his favorite targets and takes his shots at those that know far less than they think that they do and try to fit their limited knowledge into what they are familiar with.

Of course, Mr. Taleb's bias may come into play in some of his pronouncements. It is easy to write, "My only measure of success is how much time you have to kill," or, "You have a real life if and only if you do not compete with anyone in any of your pursuits," when you are a successful trader and author who no longer has to work for a living if you do not wish to. That said, I can argue that Mr. Taleb's pronouncements are right on the money and far more deserving of attention than they are to receive from many readers who cannot handle the implied criticism of their own lives and choices.

My son found a number of the pronouncements worthy of writing down as the subjects of future essays. That said, he did not like Taleb's footnote for, "My biggest problem with modernity may lie in the growing separation of the ethical and legal," because he thought that Taleb was being mean and superficial at a time when he had the opportunity to point the reader in a worthier direction. Instead of noting Robert Rubin's legal theft, he should have pointed readers to the Theban Plays and the issue of Natural Rights in Antigone or to the Nuremberg trial, which dealt with the same issue. And as a aficionado of more than a few games, his thin skin allowed him to be more than a bit upset at the comment, "Games were created to give nonheroes the illusion of winning. In real life, you don't know who really won or lost (except too late), but you can tell who is heroic and who is not."

As with his other books, I loved Taleb's latest effort. But that having been said, it does not mean that you, my dear reader of this review, will love it as much or at all. The best way to find out is to look inside the book and hit the, 'Surprise Me!,' link. Read a few of the aphorisms or to look at the Postface. You also might want to look inside his other books and see if you like the style and can handle the wit and arrogance of the author. If you choose to read this book and keep an open mind, or his others, you are likely to learn a lot and to find plenty of material that can be a catalyst for some interesting debates or arguments with friends of family. I know that it has been a very enjoyable, rewarding, and useful book for me and for my young son.

The book is a list of categorized 'aphorisms' (thought or saying that contains a truth) that can be applied to many modern day scenarios (finance, media, relationships etc.). An easy read that will have a lasting impression! Taleb is probably one of the most read authors regarding often ignored High-Impact events (Black Swans) and this book, like 'The Black Swan', does not disappoint. Great when applying to the current Financial Markets.

I picked up this book, because I have read both of Nicolas' previous books and I found the concepts he discussed, to use his word, were robust. I won't go into details about the Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness as whoever is reading this review is likely familiar with at least one of them. So, about this book now. There is a worthy number of one-liners that can prompt one to say "yeah, it's crossed my mind, that makes sense, if someone of Nicolas' calibre has perceived it similarly it could be a good candidate for a pattern" amidst a litany of banal rants, paraphrases of opinion leaders' statements, and borrowed enunciations Indian spiritual gurus in the 80s and 90s made. Let me illustrate each by a couple of examples.

One-liners: "the test of originality for an idea is not the absence of one single predecessor but the presence of multiple but incompatible ones."; "the difference between true life and modern life equals the one between a conversation and bilateral recitations"

Banal rants: "what we call "business books" is an eliminative category invented by bookstores for writings that have no depth, no style, no empirical rigor, and no linguistic sophistication"; "real mathematicians understand completeness, real philosophers understand incompleteness, the rest don't formally understand anything"

Paraphrases: "anyone voicing a forecast or expressing an opinion without something at risk has some element of phoniness"; "a good foe is far more loyal, far more predictable, and, to the clever, far more useful than the most valuable admirer" (Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power)

Borrowed enunciations: "art is one-sided conversation with the unobserved"; "if you want to annoy a poet, explain his poetry" (Osho has made the same comments using similar words. Maybe Nicolas should heed his own aphorism "double a man's erudition; you will halve his citations" )

Despite the above criticism, I have enjoyed reading the parts of Nicolas' book that were produced in a receptive state of mind. Finally, Nicolas should be careful using words such "soul" and "the unobserved", because he might attract the audience he may not have intended to address or has he?

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