Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Restaurants are fragile; they compete with each other, but the collective of local restaurants is antifragile for that very reason. Had restaurants been individually robust, hence immortal, the overall business would be either stagnant or weak, and would deliver nothing better than cafeteria food—and I mean Soviet-style cafeteria food. Further, it would be marred with systemic shortages, with, once in a while, a complete crisis and government bailout. All that quality, stability, and reliability are owed to the fragility of the restaurant itself.

It is generally accepted that harm from doctors—not including risks from hospital germs—accounts for more deaths than any single cancer.

the author sometimes throws around statements like this one that, on inspection, turn out to be completely false