
N N Taleb's Probability Questions (UNOFFICIAL) Sornette vs. Taleb Diametrically Opposite Approaches to Risk & Predictability (2014)
Nov 11, 2025
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, an influential essayist and risk analyst known for his work on uncertainty, goes head-to-head with Didier Sornette, a physicist and complexity scientist focused on crises. They debate risk management strategies: Taleb champions exposure and convexity while critiquing predictive models, suggesting that strategy trumps precise forecasting. Meanwhile, Sornette introduces the concept of 'Dragon Kings' and advocates for dynamic models over static ones to identify crisis signals. Their mutual respect leads to fascinating insights on fragility, predictability, and accountability.
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Risk Is About Exposure Not Variables
- Nassim Taleb reframes risk as exposure: focus on how a random variable affects you, not the variable itself.
- He links fragility to concave responses and antifragility to convex exposures that benefit from variability.
Change Exposure Rather Than Chasing Estimates
- Change your exposure instead of trying to precisely estimate unknowable risks; use convex transformations like options to limit downside.
- Design contracts and instruments to control exposure because they matter more than statistical estimation.
Hedging To Past Extremes Creates Fragility
- Using past worst events as a benchmark (hedging to the past worse) underestimates future extremes and creates fragility.
- Natural systems adapt beyond past maxima through overcompensation; brains don't, so design must.


