Overcompensation / Inverse Hormesis
Taleb argues that a manageable challenge can sometimes improve performance, while too little challenge can reduce engagement. He illustrates the idea with horse racing, busy workers, lectures and background noise.
THE IDEA
HOW TO WIN A HORSE RACE
It is said that the best horses lose when they compete with slower ones, and win against better rivals. Undercompensation from the absence of a stressor, inverse hormesis, absence of challenge, degrades the best of the best. In Baudelaire’s poem, “The albatross’s giant wings prevent him from walking”—many do better in Calculus 103 than Calculus 101.
This mechanism of overcompensation hides in the most unlikely places. If tired after an intercontinental flight, go to the gym for some exertion instead of resting. Also, it is a well-known trick that if you need something urgently done, give the task to the busiest (or second busiest) person in the office. Most humans manage to squander their free time, as free time makes them dysfunctional, lazy, and unmotivated—the busier they get, the more active they are at other tasks. Overcompensation, here again.
I’ve discovered a trick when giving lectures. I have been told by conference organizers that one needs to be clear, to speak with the fake articulation of TV announcers, maybe even dance on the stage to get the attention of the crowd. Some try sending authors to “speech school”—the first time it was suggested to me I walked out, resolved to change publishers on the spot. I find it better to whisper, not shout. Better to be slightly inaudible, less clear. When I was a pit trader (one of those crazy people who stand in a crowded arena shouting and screaming in a continuous auction), I learned that the noise produced by the person is inverse to the pecking order: as with mafia dons, the most powerful traders were the least audible. One should have enough self-control to make the audience work hard to listen, which causes them to switch into intellectual overdrive. This paradox of attention has been a little bit investigated: there is empirical evidence of the effect of “disfluency.” Mental effort moves us into higher gear, activating more vigorous and more analytical brain machinery.[2] The management guru Peter Drucker and the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, two persons who mesmerized the crowds the most in their respective areas, were the antithesis of the polished-swanky speaker or the consonant-trained television announcer.
The same or a similar mechanism of overcompensation makes us concentrate better in the presence of a modicum of background random noise, as if the act of countering such noise helps us hone our mental focus. Consider this remarkable ability humans have to filter out noise at happy hour and distinguish the signal among so many other loud conversations. So not only are we made to overcompensate, but we sometimes need the noise. Like many writers, I like to sit in cafés, working, as they say, against resistance. Consider our bedtime predilection for the rustle of tree leaves or the sound of the ocean: there are even electric contraptions that produce “white noise”[3] that helps people sleep better. Now these small distractions, like hormetic responses, act up to a point. I haven’t tried it yet, but I am certain that it would be hard to write an essay on the runway of Heathrow airport.
When to use it
When preparing a presentation, include a problem or question that asks the audience to think through the material.
If you feel mentally fatigued after travel or a long day, try a light workout instead of resting to boost energy through overcompensation.
When designing learning materials, use exercises that require learners to retrieve or apply ideas rather than simply reread them.
When working in a noisy environment, use moderate background music or ambient noise to improve concentration, but avoid extreme noise levels.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Horse racing paradox
Taleb invokes the saying that strong horses lose against weaker rivals but win against better ones to illustrate his argument that a lack of challenge can reduce performance.
Giving tasks to the busiest person
Taleb cites the office maxim of giving an urgent task to a busy person as an example of activity encouraging further activity. The maxim does not tell us whether a particular colleague has capacity for more work.
Whispering in lectures
The author found that whispering or being slightly inaudible makes the audience work harder to listen, activating more analytical brain machinery.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a task you currently find too easy or boring. How might adding a small challenge or constraint improve your engagement and performance?
Identify a situation where you felt overwhelmed by distractions. Could a moderate amount of background noise actually help you focus?
In your work or studies, are you relying on 'polished' communication? How could you intentionally introduce a bit of difficulty (e.g., asking thought-provoking questions) to deepen others' attention?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Antifragile (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)