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Taleb is simultaneously both worth reading as well as one of the most pretentious, unpleasant asses I've ever read.

The Black Swan was mostly fantastic, but Antifragile was mostly regurgitation.

The biggest problem with him is he thinks he's much, much smarter than he is, like a kind of inverse-Dunning-Kruger effect. It's odd because he is quite a smart man in the first place; there's no need for him to be such a pretentious asshole.



I've never read Black Swan. I found Antifragile hugely thought-provoking. Knowing both, would you imagine I had anything to gain from also reading Black Swan, or do you really think they basically cover the same ground?


I read both, and Fooled By Randomness. I would say you stand to gain a lot reading about the older ones as well.


There is a lot of overlap in the Venn Diagram between the two. I would say read the first 80-100 pages of Black Swan and decide if you would like to complete the book.




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