Naseem Nicholas Taleb coined the term anti-fragile in his 2012 book, Things That Gain From Disorder. It's on how to thrive during times of stress and even disaster - which are not that uncommon. The psychologist Jonathan Hite says children need a lot of unsupervised time to get in over their heads and get themselves out. A few people whom you are drawn to will bring your true self into focus.
In the final minutes of the final lecture of Dr. Shermer’s final semester at Chapman a student asked what practical lessons for life he might share with them. Dr. Shermer offered as much as he could think of off the top of his head, but since he has researched and written a fair amount on this topic over the decades he sat down and wrote out a final lecture here, not only for his students but for anyone who is interested in knowing what tools science and reason can provide for how to live a good life and how to deal with entropy, problems, setbacks and obstacles, aka normal life. Here are the ten lessons…
- The First Law of Life
- To Thine Own Self Be True
- Be Antifragile
- Be Self-Disciplined Because Action is Character
- Don’t be a Victim
- Don’t Eat the Marshmallow
- Directing Your Future Self
- Be Your Own Financial Advisor
- Build Strong Social Networks
- Find Your Meaning and Purpose in Life