Tag: Black Swan

But.

garfield

“The first one who uses ‘but’ has lost the argument”
~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Now there is a great thought. A complete Black Swan as it were! Till I came across that statement from that maverick, it had not occurred to me at all.

Had it to you?

And Nandu, no, it is not a typo!

I hope that you enjoyed reading my take on this subject which was chosen by Maxie for the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where five of us write on the same topic. The four other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order,  Ashok, gaelikaa, Maxi, and Shackman. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, do give some allowance for that too!

The Turkey.

Strutting-Turkey

Maxi, our fellow LBC blogger has an interesting post in her blog on a guy who breeds wild turkeys and nurtures them, A very moving tale and worth a read.

Interestingly enough, I had an occasion to read about the country Turkey just immediately after reading Maxi’s post and I was wondering about the synchronicity of the two events, when bang came a phone call from a friend who wanted me to tell him about the black swan story that Nassim Taleb tells.

Taleb is well known for a parable he tells of a turkey (presumably in the United States) and of a turkey farmer. From the perspective of the turkey, the farmer is an absolutely wonderful character, providing endless food, adequate shelter, and ample opportunities for socializing with its kind — until the day the farmer slaughters the turkey for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

I had just concluded telling him of the story and giving him the reference of the book when the door bell rang and I received a hamper of food from a neighbour who had slaughtered a goat in the morning for a special occasion. And I thought to myself of the great days that the goat must have had being fed nice things till that morning!

I can think of a few wonderful farmer type of fellows who had led me up the garden path and slaughtered me! I am sure that my readers can think of such characters in their lives too.