Tag Archives: Taleb

Antifragile – Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb – Book Review

Posted on November 21, 2013 by randysrules

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, “Antifragile – Things That Gain from Disorder”,      Random House, New York, (c)2012, 519pp. “Antifragile” has been on the shelves for a year now, I read it when it first came out, yet I felt constrained from writing … Continue reading →

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Venice Impressions

Posted on January 24, 2012 by randysrules

A few, incomplete, unranked, unordered impressions that I noted in my Moleskine journal when leaving Venice in early October, 2011, a task like attempting to sketch falling leaves in Autumn.  Ah, the delight of the work their consideration portends! I would love … Continue reading →

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The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb – Book Review

Posted on January 5, 2011 by randysrules

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan (see Bibliography page), has written a new book, released in December, 2010, The Bed of Procrustes – Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (Random House, New York, 2010, $18US cover price, less “on-line”).  … Continue reading →

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Pluralism vs. Relativism and Opportunism vs. Sacrifice

Posted on December 17, 2010 by randysrules

“Pluralism marks the moment in history when despair and private obsession replace culture.”             Leon Krier The other day on Facebook (December 16, 2010), Nassem Nicholas Taleb catalyzed a revealing and depressing discussion (as I am confident was his intent … Continue reading →

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Known, Expected and Unprepared

Posted on December 7, 2010 by randysrules

Status Quo Known, expected and yet still unprepared!  Is that you?  Be truthful with yourself!  That state of affairs is true of all of us and the communities within which we live – from “family-size” to “world-wide”  Society certainly seems … Continue reading →

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Venice – Form, Function and Environment

Posted on November 25, 2010 by randysrules

In his monumental work, “The City in History” (Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1981), renowned historian Lewis Mumford provided an outline of what he referred to as a “Typical Parish Island” in Venice, listing and defining its essential components.  They are, A Community Open Space, … Continue reading →

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Conviction or Intensity?

Posted on October 16, 2010 by randysrules

“The good lack all conviction while the worst are filled with passionate intensity.”  William Butler Yeats Intensity is often mistaken for conviction.  Intensity is also often mistaken for “proof of knowledge”.  Those error of perception give unwarranted credence to those who practice … Continue reading →

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Prepare for the Unexpected

Posted on August 29, 2010 by randysrules

“Expect the unexpected or you won’t find it”  Heracletis. Roger von Oech (www.creativethink.com) has, among other thinkers, used that paradoxical aphorism coined by the ancient sage Heracletis to encourage us toward innovation, and perhaps also toward simple survival!  Nassem Nicholas Taleb (The Black … Continue reading →

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City Form: A Metaphor for Your Work

Posted on July 29, 2010 by randysrules

Often, fields other than our own can provide great insights and outstanding tools that, when properly understood and contextually modified for use,  can equip us with healthy innovative analysis and  implementation techniques that profit our own work and organizations. Renowned planner Kevin Lynch, … Continue reading →

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Wrong Assumptions

Posted on July 12, 2010 by randysrules

“If one starts with a wrong assumption and is logical from that point on, he will never get back on the road to truth” Cajetan, commenting on a text of St. Thomas Aquinas and quoted by Fulton J. Sheen in … Continue reading →

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