Nassim Taleb - 11 Rules For Life (How To Live a Resilient Life)

A truly socialist policy for strangers—opening your doors and windows to let everyone take what they want—doesn't work and is not realistic, demonstrating socialism's structural incompatibility with large, diverse groups.

“Yes, but when you're dealing with strangers, I mean, you want to be a real socialist, great. Open all your doors and windows tomorrow. Please, everybody, come take what you want. See how that works out.”

Hammurabi's code was not about eye-for-eye revenge or balance, but rather the principle that you cannot walk away from risks you've created for others—you must be a bearer of the risks you generate.

“Now, what was the idea of Harabi's code? It was not eye for eye. I for I limiting damages, you know, and making things balanced. No, it was that you cannot walk away from risks you've created for others. You should own your risks. That's the idea of Hammurabi's quote.”

The only true measure of success is looking at yourself in the mirror in the evening and not disappointing the person you were at 18, before people get corrupted by life, with only that person as judge—not reputation, wealth, standing, or decorations.

“There's a single definition of success. Look at yourself in a mirror in the evening and wonder if you disappoint the person you were at 18 right before people get corrupted by life. Let him or her be the only judge. Not your reputation, not your wealth, not your standing in a community, not the decorations on your leal. If you do not feel ashamed, then you are successful.”

You should treat the doorman with more respect than the boss, because the boss can fall but the doorman cannot—meaning vulnerability should be met with greater respect.

“Treat the doorman with lot of respect. Okay? More than if you were the boss. The bus can go down, not the doorman.”

The Golden Rule ('do unto others as you'd have them do unto you') is intrusive because it imposes your preferences on others; the Silver Rule ('don't do to others what you don't want done to you') is more robust and is necessary for civilization.

“You've heard of the golden rule. Do unto others what you want them to do to you, which I in fact I find a little intrusive because say I like raw Lebanese meat, Lebanese ki. I'm not going to force you to eat it. Right? So there's actually and say I'm a bureaucrat and and like this kind of stuff. I'm not force you. There's a much more robust silver rule. Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you. And and and effectively you can't have civilization without the silver rule.”

The complete list of failures to avoid includes: muscles without strength, friendship without trust, opinion without risk, change without aesthetics, age without values, food without nourishment, power without fairness, facts without rigor, degrees without erudition, militarism without fortitude, progress without civilization, complication without depth, fluency without content, and religion without tolerance.

“So I've seen robust people in my village amune who were proud of being you know local citizens you know liked by the community. They're wake up happy and go to bed happy. or Russian mathematicians who during the difficult posts Soviet period were proud of making $200 a month and did work that was appreciated by 20 people and considered that showing was decorations or accepting awards that was a sign of weakness and a lack of confidence in one's own contribution. And believe it or not, some wealthy people are robust, but you just don't hear about them because they're not socialized. They live next door and they drink, not vloggers. Do not follow the news in any way or form. To be convinced, go to the library and try to read last year's newspaper. Okay? And that will convince you. Second thing, if something is nonsense, you say it and you say it out loud. You'll be harmed a little bit, but be antifragile. In the long run, people who need to trust you will trust you. When I was still an obscure author, I walked out of a studio um Bloomberg radio because the interviewers was they were saying nonsense. So, I just walked out. People told me, "You'll never have any coverage by Bloomberg ever again." I said, "Okay." Two years later, they had a cover story on me. Okay? So, if you see nonsense, say it and say it loud. Treat the doorman with lot of respect. Okay? More than if you were the boss. The bus can go down, not the doorman. If something is boring, avoid it. Except of course taxes and visits to your mother-in-law. Okay, other than these, avoid everything boring. Now, what was the idea of Harabi's code? It was not eye for eye. I for I limiting damages, you know, and making things balanced. No, it was that you cannot walk away from risks you've created for others. You should own your risks. That's the idea of Hammurabi's quote. You cannot have civilized society unless those who create risks aren't also bearers that risk. But let's first look at it from a moral standpoint. Okay? You've heard of the golden rule. Do unto others what you want them to do to you, which I in fact I find a little intrusive because say I like raw Lebanese meat, Lebanese ki. I'm not going to force you to eat it. Right? So there's actually and say I'm a bureaucrat and and like this kind of stuff. I'm not force you. There's a much more robust silver rule. Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you. And and and effectively you can't have civilization without the silver rule. People ask me uh uh what should I be doing? Okay, I'm 20 and uh you know go somewhere. Start a business. take risks now because everybody wants to work for a GMO to improve the world and you end up like the UN offices manufacturing problems to so you hire more staff who fly business class and have an apartment in Geneva that kind of stuff start a business because we're tired of people who want to work for NOS's okay start a business create jobs for others okay and do not rent seek do not be in rent seeking have some skin in the game Just like you know your your uh grandparents probably your grand one of your grandfathers was at age 18 disembarking in Normandy. They took a lot of risk these kids 18year-old. Okay. Take some risk starting business. Thanks because of you I started uh doing deadlifting. Skin in the game. Yeah. So skin in the game. Let let me tell you something about deadlifting. I was uh no I was uh I had this moto skin in the game that you should never tell people what they should be doing. You should tell them what you're doing. Okay. And I had a back injury when I was riding antifragile about seven years ago. And I cured it by by deadlifting. So and then I started discovering the value of intense heavy weight on on humans like the bone stuff like that. And and the reason I talk about my own deadlifting is only to say that I have in the game. I'm telling you, I had the injuries of a deadlifter. I'm telling you, so I bear the risk of my advice. I always like Nasim Talb's framing on this where he said, "With my family, I'm a communist. With my close friends, I'm a socialist. Uh, you know, at my state level politics, I'm a Democrat. At, you know, higher levels, I'm a I'm a Republican. And at the federal level, I'm a libertarian." Right? So basically the larger the group of people you have masked together who have different interests the less trust there is the more cheating there is the better the incentives have to be aligned the better the system has to work the more you go towards capitalism the smaller the group you're in you're in a kibitz you're in your commune you're in your house you're in your tribe by all means be a socialist with my aunts with my brother with my cousins with my uncles with my mom with my family I'm a socialist that's the right way to live a loving happy integrated life Yes, but when you're dealing with strangers, I mean, you want to be a real socialist, great. Open all your doors and windows tomorrow. Please, everybody, come take what you want. See how that works out. And there are a lot of rules in my book. So, I going to end up with no nos, the things to avoid completely, muscles without strength, friendship without trust, opinion without risk, change without aesthetics, age without values. Food without nourishment. Power without fairness. Facts without rigor. Degrees without irredition. Militarism without fortitude. Progress without civilization, complication without depth, fluency without content, and most of all, religion without tolerance.”

Reading last year's newspaper is an exercise that convinces you not to follow news, because you realize how irrelevant yesterday's news is today.

“To be convinced, go to the library and try to read last year's newspaper. Okay? And that will convince you.”

The principle behind discussing one's personal deadlifting practice is to demonstrate skin in the game—Taleb is telling people about his own injuries as a deadlifter to show he bears the risk of his own advice.

“And the reason I talk about my own deadlifting is only to say that I have in the game. I'm telling you, I had the injuries of a deadlifter. I'm telling you, so I bear the risk of my advice.”

If something is nonsense, you should say it out loud—you will be harmed a little in the short term, but in the long run people who need to trust you will trust you, making you antifragile.

“Second thing, if something is nonsense, you say it and you say it out loud. You'll be harmed a little bit, but be antifragile. In the long run, people who need to trust you will trust you.”

The worst cases are former officials with impressive CVs who become addicted to the attention of servile bureaucrats, then experience devastating loss of identity when they leave office—like having one's house emptied of all furniture.

“The worst are those former something types with four-page CV who after leaving office and addicted to the attention of survile bureaucrats find themselves discarded. It's as if you went home one evening to discover that someone suddenly unmpied your house of all its furniture.”

Self-respect, by contrast with external success markers, is robust—it allows people to wake up happy and go to bed happy, as exemplified by village citizens proud of their local standing or Russian mathematicians proud of modest income and work appreciated by few.

“Self-respect on the other hand is robust. That's the approach of the stoic school. So I've seen robust people in my village amune who were proud of being you know local citizens you know liked by the community. They're wake up happy and go to bed happy. or Russian mathematicians who during the difficult posts Soviet period were proud of making $200 a month and did work that was appreciated by 20 people and considered that showing was decorations or accepting awards that was a sign of weakness and a lack of confidence in one's own contribution.”

Secret societies operate by the rule 'wo donor'—you are as good as what you do for other members—which demonstrates that virtue is inseparable from courage and risk-taking for others' sake.

“For example, secret societies have the rule of wo donor. You're as good as what you do to other members. So virtue is inseparable from courage. So we have to take some risks personal, financial, whatever for the sake of others.”

All other definitions of success besides self-respect are modern constructions—fragile modern constructions that contrast with how ancient societies (like the Greeks) defined success as having heroic deaths.

“All other definitions of success are modern constructions, fragile modern constructions. The ancient Greeks definition of success was to have had heroic deaths.”

Some wealthy people are robust and self-respecting, but you don't hear about them because they aren't socialized—they live ordinary lives, don't follow news, and don't seek visibility, which is why only the fragile wealthy are visible.

“And believe it or not, some wealthy people are robust, but you just don't hear about them because they're not socialized. They live next door and they drink, not vloggers. Do not follow the news in any way or form.”

Taleb walked out of a Bloomberg radio interview when interviewers were saying nonsense, and people told him he'd never get Bloomberg coverage again, but two years later Bloomberg ran a cover story on him—proving the value of integrity.

“When I was still an obscure author, I walked out of a studio um Bloomberg radio because the interviewers was they were saying nonsense. So, I just walked out. People told me, "You'll never have any coverage by Bloomberg ever again." I said, "Okay." Two years later, they had a cover story on me.”

Taleb frames his own political positions as scale-dependent: communist with family, socialist with close friends, Democrat at state level, Republican at higher levels, and libertarian at federal level.

“I always like Nasim Talb's framing on this where he said, "With my family, I'm a communist. With my close friends, I'm a socialist. Uh, you know, at my state level politics, I'm a Democrat. At, you know, higher levels, I'm a I'm a Republican. And at the federal level, I'm a libertarian."”

In a less martial society, success can be adapted as having taken a heroic route for the benefit of the collective, whether narrowly or broadly defined, provided the benefit is for someone else rather than oneself.

“But as we live in a less marshall society, we can adapt our definition of success as having taken a heroic route for the benefits of the collective as narrowly or broadly defined as you want so long as it's someone else.”

For a 20-year-old seeking direction, the recommendation is to start a business and take risks rather than work for large institutions (GMOs, UN offices) that manufacture problems to justify hiring more staff.

“People ask me uh uh what should I be doing? Okay, I'm 20 and uh you know go somewhere. Start a business. take risks now because everybody wants to work for a GMO to improve the world and you end up like the UN offices manufacturing problems to so you hire more staff who fly business class and have an apartment in Geneva that kind of stuff start a business because we're tired of people who want to work for NOS's okay start a business create jobs for others okay and do not rent seek do not be in rent seeking have some skin in the game”

Taleb cured his back injury sustained while writing 'Antifragile' seven years ago through deadlifting, which led him to discover the value of intense heavy weightlifting for human bone health and physiology.

“I had this moto skin in the game that you should never tell people what they should be doing. You should tell them what you're doing. Okay. And I had a back injury when I was riding antifragile about seven years ago. And I cured it by by deadlifting. So and then I started discovering the value of intense heavy weight on on humans like the bone stuff like that.”