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Comment by Swizec | Hacker News Reader

Reading Antifragile always felt like he's got some interesting insights, some of which feel quite quackery ... and the constant pot shots are unnecessary to the point of distraction.

We get it, you don't like academics and The Establishment. But do you have to mention it every other paragraph like a teenage boy?

Guess nobody gave him the Kill Your Darlings writing advice.

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I just bought Antifragile and can't believe this guy gets away with the constant petty swipes. There are enough interesting ideas to keep you going but there is so much petty noise in these books. If he has an editor they are doing a terrible job.

I think Black Swan is much, much better.

I'm pretty sure he discusses editors at some point and he doesn't really like them or have one.

He takes the swipes, but he'll show up with a truckload of evidence supporting them if you push back.

Yes, his prose is terrible. Initially I thought he never took any english composition class. But then I realized that perhaps he thinks he is too smart for such things. That is, he writes the way he think, the way he speaks.

Thanks for the warning. I'll go with my normal approach to non-entertaining non-fiction and just read a couple of online summaries.

E.g. https://www.nateliason.com/notes/antifragile

You can't cheat with reading. Whatever you think of NNT he carefully picks metaphors to simplify underlying fabric. When I read a book it feels like a conversation with the writer, it takes me through a new door and unlocks another paradigm. Try to read the whole Skin in the Game book. It's worth the investment. Summaries are like a hand job it doesn't compare with the real deal.

I'd give you multiple points for the handjob metaphor of I could.

> and the constant pot shots are unnecessary to the point of distraction.

For each their own I suppose. I found it unnecessary and also entertaining.

Oh they’re entertaining alright. They’re just also unnecessary and get old after the first 50 :D

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