Skin in The Game

It is hard to overstate the need (especially now) for thinkers like Taleb in modern society. His is unapologetic, gripping, disagreeable, hilarious, and most importantly completely willing to present the rawest version of truth he believes in, even if it means targeting and challenging the most basic tenants of “how things are done.” This, one of Taleb’s more recent book (and therefore one in which it is evident there is even less editing and oversight, if there even was any in the past), focuses in on the concept of “skin in the game.”

One of the biggest asymmetries present in society is that so many individuals and systems in power stay that way because they are not incentivized to directly participate in risk, good or bad. Taleb’s argument (which hits you in a way that feels deeply, practically obvious rather than theoretical) pulls no punches; academics, bankers, charities, politicians, consultants and many others can all thrive by “rent seeking” rather than actually accepting risk as a fundamental part of their roles in society. His heroes are those that do: the entrepreneurs who rise and fall with their ventures, gaining wealth from equity (not fees) if successfully, and falling flat and Darwinistically selecting out from the pool if not. The ancient-era military generals who fight in the battles they select rather than the desk-bound analysts adding up the numbers but never facing the emotion and loss of war directly.

Taleb (as he has in his other works) exposes a deep and awkward truth. His humor and bluntness are certainly assets in getting that truth out to the reader.