Introducing Antifragile
What do popsicles, my Yia Yia’s spanakopita, and the sword of Gryffindor have in common?
The answer is not obvious, but my hope is that by the end of this series it will be. Allow me to introduce Antifragile, by Nassim Taleb, in my own words.
Consider a crystal wine glass. If you owned such a glass, you would be very protective of it. You wouldn’t want to throw it around, take it to your next music festival, or let an over-excited puppy (or worse, toddler) run around near it. This is because you understand that the glass dislikes any sort of chaos or disorder or volatitily. It is prone to breaking. It is fragile.
Consider now a steel cup, crafted by your local blacksmith such that it is practically indestructible. You do not mind carrying it around or exposing it to a three-year old since the cup is indifferent to the chaos of those environments. It is no better or worse for being thrown around like a ball. It is robust.
But the opposite of the fragile crystal glass is not the robust steel cup. While the fragile dislikes being thrown around, the robust is merely indifferent. The opposite of something which dislikes disorder is not something which is no better or worse in the face of such disorder— it is something which actively enjoys it.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry is confronted with the feared Basilisk, the King of the serpents who kills with eye contact alone, and who’s venom is among the deadliest known to the wizarding world. With help from the sword of Godrick Gryffindor, Harry manages to kill the basilisk. The sword has a curious property: it imbibes (or takes on) that which makes it stronger. This means that it is impervious to rust or decay (since those pesky oxygen molecules do not strengthen it) and is actually improved when Harry stabs the Basilisk — it becomes sword plus basilisk venom.
If you wanted this sword to become as strong and powerful as possible, you would not want to keep it locked away in a vault with your crystal glasses. You would want gallant knights to take it to slay dragons and other beasts because you know that the sword will only improve with exposure to the chaos of the world. You know that the sword, unlike your crystal glasses, likes adventure, chaos, disorder, the passage of time, and dangerous serpants. This sword is antifragile.
The antifragile likes the passage of time, tinkering, chaos, stress, randomness, changes in the environment, and uncertainty. It is not simply robust against these things, but actively seeks them out and prospers from them.
My Yia Yia’s spanakopita, or spinach pie, is the stuff of legend. The recipe is a zealously guarded family secret. Friends who have asked for the recipe are always met with the same Dale Kerrigan-esque response: “you’re dreaming.”
The recipe for this delightful delicacy is in many ways antifragile. It actually gets better with the passage of time and some chaos or uncertainty in the local environment. One day Yia Yia was unable to buy the Greek feta that she normally uses, so she was forced to use Danish feta (a creamier and less salty alternative) instead. She found that the pita was better, and has used Danish feta ever since.
The recipe benefitted from Yia Yia’s tinkering and willingness to try new things. I doubt she would be so willing to experiment with the variety of trinkets that adorn her mantlepiece lest they break.
The history of food and beverages is replete with examples of such tinkering and variety (and even accidents) producing improvements. Popsicles are believed to have been invented when a glass of lemonade was left outside on a freezing porch overnight with a mixing stick still in it. Nachos were the result of an imaginative Mexican cook cutting leftover tortilla into triangles, frying them, and serving with melted cheese and jalapeños.
Recipes and food more broadly benefit from experimenting, local shortages (of Greek feta and of other things), and the semi-random variations that come with the passage of time. Recipes are antifragile. Note that this is not to say that the actual food itself is antifragile — milk will not get better with the passage of time. But the idea of the milkshake will.
In the remainder of this series, I will attempt to unpack the concept of antifragility in more detail and in more ways. Feedback, questions, and requests are all welcome.
