"Please Handle Carelessly"
Why Traders Must Be Antifragile
In Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book “Antifragile”, he argues that the opposite of fragile is not robust, resilient, or tough like most people think.
When people think of the word fragile, they immediately think of packages with the words “Handle With Care” on it which contains items that can break easily.
So if a robust package doesn’t break, why isn’t robust the opposite of fragile?
Because while it’s true that it doesn’t break, it also doesn’t improve.
“Antifragile” describes things that not only withstand stress, volatility, and shocks but actually improve, strengthen, or benefit from them. It is the true opposite of “fragile.”
He suggests that an antifragile item would be a package on which one has written: “Please Handle Carelessly.”
Fragile: Breaks from stress.
Robust: Neither breaks nor improves.
Antifragile: Gains strength, adapts, or thrives because of stress.
Why Traders Must Be Antifragile
In the trading environment, fragile or merely robust traders eventually fail. To survive and thrive long-term, traders must build antifragile approaches.
Think of all the ways the trading environment is hostile to fragile people:
You will face drawdowns: it’s not “if,” it’s “when” and “how bad”
Markets will move against you in ways you didn’t anticipate.
You will be wrong often.
Since you cannot avoid these things, you have exactly two choices:
Be fragile and eventually break when the stress exceeds your limits.
Be antifragile and get stronger from the inevitable stress.
Those who thrive long-term in trading all have systems that benefit from volatility.