The Black Swan (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)

The Black Swan (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
- Highlight Loc. 3031-35  | Added on Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 06:38 PM

Mark Spitznagel found a martial version of the ludic fallacy: organized competitive fighting trains the athlete to focus on the game and, in order not to dissipate his concentration, to ignore the possibility of what is not specifically allowed by the rules, such as kicks to the groin, a surprise knife, et cetera. So those who win the gold medal might be precisely those who will be most vulnerable in real life. Likewise, you see people with huge muscles (in black T-shirts) who can impress you in the artificial environment of the gym but are unable to lift a stone.