Defossilizing Things
Taleb contrasts his experience of small commerce, where new transactions displace old disputes, with the lasting rivalries he encountered in academia. He argues that repeated dealings and small, recoverable mistakes can encourage tolerance.
THE IDEA
Defossilizing Things
Second ethical point.
I am obligated to submit myself to the scientific process simply because I require it from others, but no more than that. When I read empirical claims in medicine or other sciences, I like these claims to go through the peer-review mechanism, a fact-checking of sorts, an examination of the rigor of the approach. Logical statements, or those backed by mathematical reasoning, on the other hand, do not require such a mechanism: they can and must stand on their own legs. So I publish technical footnotes for these books in specialized and academic outlets, and nothing more (and limit them to statements that require proofs or more elaborate technical arguments). But for the sake of authenticity and to avoid careerism (the debasing of knowledge by turning it into a competitive sport), I ban myself from publishing anything outside of these footnotes.
After more than twenty years as a transactional trader and businessman in what I called the “strange profession,” I tried what one calls an academic career. And I have something to report—actually that was the driver behind this idea of antifragility in life and the dichotomy between the natural and the alienation of the unnatural. Commerce is fun, thrilling, lively, and natural; academia as currently professionalized is none of these. And for those who think that academia is “quieter” and an emotionally relaxing transition after the volatile and risk-taking business life, a surprise: when in action, new problems and scares emerge every day to displace and eliminate the previous day’s headaches, resentments, and conflicts. A nail displaces another nail, with astonishing variety. But academics (particularly in social science) seem to distrust each other; they live in petty obsessions, envy, and icy-cold hatreds, with small snubs developing into grudges, fossilized over time in the loneliness of the transaction with a computer screen and the immutability of their environment. Not to mention a level of envy I have almost never seen in business.… My experience is that money and transactions purify relations; ideas and abstract matters like “recognition” and “credit” warp them, creating an atmosphere of perpetual rivalry. I grew to find people greedy for credentials nauseating, repulsive, and untrustworthy.
Commerce, business, Levantine souks (though not large-scale markets and corporations) are activities and places that bring out the best in people, making most of them forgiving, honest, loving, trusting, and open-minded. As a member of the Christian minority in the Near East, I can vouch that commerce, particularly small commerce, is the door to tolerance—the only door, in my opinion, to any form of tolerance. It beats rationalizations and lectures. Like antifragile tinkering, mistakes are small and rapidly forgotten.
I want to be happy to be human and be in an environment in which other people are in love with their fate—and never, until my brush with academia, did I think that that environment was a certain form of commerce (combined with solitary scholarship). The biologist-writer and libertarian economist Matt Ridley made me feel that it was truly the Phoenician trader in me (or, more exactly, the Canaanite) that was the intellectual.4
When to use it
When starting a new project with others, aim for rapid iteration and small failures to prevent long-standing grudges.
If you find yourself in an academic or corporate environment with a lot of petty politics, try to inject more dynamism by introducing frequent new challenges.
In a small business partnership, encourage open communication and quick resolution of disagreements by focusing on immediate problems.
When designing a team, prioritize environments where mistakes are small and quickly forgotten, similar to Levantine souks.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Taleb's Transition from Commerce to Academia
After 20 years as a trader, Taleb entered academia and found it full of envy, grudges, and fossilized conflicts, contrasting with the lively, forgiving nature of small commerce where problems are rapidly replaced.
Small Mistakes in a Souk
In a Levantine souk, a small mistake between traders is quickly forgotten because new transactions and issues arise immediately, preventing resentment from festering and fostering tolerance.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
In what environments do you feel grudges and resentments fester? How could you create a more 'defossilized' environment like small commerce?
Think of a time when a conflict was resolved because new problems pushed it aside. How does this principle apply to your personal relationships?
Given the choice between a high-stakes competitive environment with large mistakes and a low-stakes tinkering environment, which fosters more tolerance and forgiveness?
Often confused with
References
- Concept of the Phoenician trader as intellectual — Matt Ridley
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Antifragile (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)