What Does It Mean to Be "Antifragile"
The book Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a wonderful read. It explains in great detail how certain systems can benefit from volatility and stress. These systems are found in many different places in the modern world. By understanding what “antifragilty” looks like, we can start to welcome it into or lives and use it to cultivate a mindset that actually improves itself from stressful environments. The term “growth through adversity” sums it up nicely.
To define an “antifragile” system, it will be useful to work backwards. Let’s start with something fragile. Imagine a plate. Any plate. Now, drop it (In your mind, not literally). SMASH. That’s pretty fragile, right?! Hopefully it wasn’t expensive because we can’t undo this action. Our plate is broken and we can’t return it back to it’s previous state. We could repair it, but it wouldn’t be the same.
There are many things that are fragile and we don’t just have to stick to objects to find them. Certain relationships are fragile. One small event could destroy them. Political systems have the potential to be fragile, along with economies, businesses and jobs. Fragility surrounds us and there are many things that could be irreparably damaged by a random event or simple mistake.
After fragile systems we have resilient systems. These are things that can survive shocks and setbacks. They can deal with bumps in the road and surprise events. Maybe your plate is made from titanium and can be thrown around without it breaking. The plate resists damage to a certain degree and doesn’t instantly smash. Great! Maybe your economy is resilient enough to deal with a few hiccups here and there or your job is still safe in times of cutbacks. This is the perfect example of resilient systems.
Resilience is a word that is becoming increasingly popular in the self-help genre. I certainly talk about it a lot in my book and describe ways that have helped me to prepare for the inevitable bumps along the road. However, there is a concept that is one step along from resilience and this is "antifragility”.
If something is “antifragile” it’s the opposite of fragile. This is something that will actually benefit from disorder, stress and unpredictable circumstances. Instead of your plate breaking when you drop it, imagine that each time it hits the floor, it becomes stronger. Your plate is actually benefitting from the damage that would normally destroy it. If you keep dropping your plate, it keeps getting stronger. I know what you’re thinking… Where can you get one of those plates?! Well, you can’t at the moment but hopefully this illustrates the concept.
Bodybuilding is a fine example of an antifragile process. Each time you lift a heavy weight, you damage your muscles. These muscles will then repair themselves and become stronger. To deal with the new stress that you’ve put on the body, your muscles will have to adapt to these demands. This is the perfect example of an antifragile concept.
Science is another example of an antifragile system. As we gain more knowledge on a subject, we are better equipped to move forward. When we discover a new virus or technology, we are learning what works and what doesn't. We’re innovating solutions to problems and mistakes/errors help us to actually improve our knowledge. Science embraces mistakes and uses them to learn. This adaptability is something that has benefited the human race greatly.
There are so many systems that benefit from external stress and if you look around, you should be able to identify areas in life that grow from the demands put upon them. If we can learn to adopt this attitude in our approach towards day-to-day life, we are onto something good. By always looking for how the negative events that we encounter or the stress we face on a daily basis can actually benefit us, we will be adopting an “antifragile” mindset. Looking for the lessons in life is an antifragile model of living.
In a way, leaving our comfort zones is another example of developing this mindset. By stressing our minds and bodies when we leave our comfort zones, we are actually becoming more prepared for future stresses and setbacks. By forcing ourself into the unknown, we can grow exponentially. I love how practical this concept can be and I encourage you to look for these systems in your life. I also highly recommend that you read Antifragile. It’s a very smart book and beautifully crafted.
““Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.” ”