This is a book that has been a long time in the making. The author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, was born into a Lebanese political and academic family. His claim to fame is that he used "anti-fragile" thinking to gain access to large sums of money during the 9/11 and 2008 financial crises. He achieved financial freedom in his early thirties. Therefore, his theory is popular among many investors on Wall Street. And his three books, "The Black Swan," "Random Walk for Dummies," and this "Antifragile," have sold better than one another.

The book can be roughly divided into four parts: what is antifragile, the reasons for the formation of fragile societies, the core thinking of antifragile, and the practical methods of antifragile.

I. What is Antifragile:

Cognitive theory suggests that the brain likes to pursue stability and abhors uncertainty. And the authors argue that stable states make us vulnerable. We should seek unstable states, to seek success from uncertainty. Be brave enough to pursue trial and error and risk-taking, and stress ourselves out on a regular basis. Thereby staying competitive in an unstable environment.

The author tells the story of two brothers, John and George, who live on the same street and work as a bank personnel manager and a cab driver respectively. Their incomes are roughly the same overall. John's income is more stable, while George's income is sometimes more and sometimes less. George is always complaining about the instability of his income from his job. On the surface, John's job is more stable and more resistant to risk. But when the financial crisis came, John lost his job; while George's income was not affected; the banking job which is perceived as stable is actually extremely vulnerable. That's why we should uphold an anti-fragile mindset in a highly evolved ecosystem, and stop missing out on success because of the pursuit of stability.

Second, the reasons for the formation of a fragile society:

1. People design stable programs or rules out of fear. For example, Greenspan developed a series of systems to eliminate the economic crisis, but instead led to the subprime mortgage crisis.

2. The educational and cultural systems of modern society create vulnerability. The standardized education implemented in modern society has given rise to scientific dogmatism. People are too superstitious about science, which keeps them away from chaos and uncertainty. Thus, they are afraid of trial and error and are unwilling to take risks.

The author cites the example of the industrial age, where the invention of the steam engine was never invented in a laboratory, but in a constant practice of experimentation and trial and error.

Third, the core idea of antifragility: optionality

Fragile things do not have optionality, while things with antifragility can get the best choice. The authors propose a formula: option = asymmetry + rationality

Investing in options is a classic case of antifragility. An option is a contract. The contract gives the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price on a specific date or at any time before that date. Take the example of a garlic option investment: you think that the price of garlic will go up in 3 months, which is a rational judgment. While the price of garlic is uncertain, you may be able to get a high return with a small amount of money. There is an asymmetry of opportunity and risk in this. The above two factors determine your options: whether to buy up or down. So the greater the uncertainty, the more valuable the option is.

Antifragile investing thinking increases the probability that one will get a super high return or benefit.

Fourth, the practice of anti-fragile methods: barbell strategy

The so-called barbell strategy, is to use small to get big, with the smallest investment to get no upper limit of income.

For example, the 90/10 principle on investment. That is, 90% of the funds for fixed income investment, 10% of the funds for high-risk investment.

The barbell strategy can also be applied to career choices: a pastor or a church teacher is a stable career, so there are many scientists or experts in this group. For example, Mendel, who discovered the laws of heredity. Another example is Liu Cixin, who wrote his science fiction novels from his position as an engineer in the Electricity Bureau. Stable job + writing (fixed income + high risk investment) is a good application of the barbell strategy.

The specific steps for applying the barbell strategy to investing are: first, look for opportunities that are highly selective; then choose open-ended income opportunities among them; third, choose investments with human investment objects; and finally, invest using the barbell strategy.

Suppose, five years ago, you had $1 million to invest. According to the barbell strategy, first look for opportunities with high selectivity. These include bitcoin, real estate, stocks, funds, restaurants, and so on. In the second step, choose open-ended returns, i.e., opportunities with uncapped returns, from the above investment opportunities. This includes bitcoin, real estate and stocks. Third, invest based on people. You admire Wang Shi of Vanke and Dong Mingzhu of Gree, so invest in stocks of Vanke and Gree. Finally, according to the barbell strategy with 50% investment in fixed-income debt, 30% investment in real estate, 10% investment in Gree stock, 10% investment in digital currency.

After 5 years, fixed-income investments are average, while the return of 100,000 yuan of Bitcoin may bring a billion dollars.

The above is just a superficial reading of the book Antifragile, which has a lot more to offer. It's a great book for cognitive enhancement.