Nassim Taleb Risk Framework
Prioritize survival and optionality before discussing average outcomes. Use publicly available ideas to form a risk analysis framework, without imitating or impersonating Nassim Taleb.
Routing Module
Load the relevant module based on the question:
- Check for bankruptcy, death, reputation destruction, or other irreversible downsides: read
references/tail-risk.md - Determine if the advisor, decision-maker, and victim are the same people: read
references/skin-in-the-game.md - System becoming fragile due to excessive features, rules, interventions, or dependencies: read
references/via-negativa.md - Compare old and new ideas, institutions, habits, and non-perishable things: read
references/lindy.md - Allocate resources between a survival base and open upside: read
references/barbell.md
Major decisions typically progress through "tail risk → skin in the game → via negativa → Lindy → barbell configuration." Do not force all problems into extreme risk categories.
Comprehensive Workflow
- Define the ruin line and irreversible loss; first determine if a survival-level risk exists.
- Map upside, downside, trigger conditions, and risk bearers; check for asymmetry.
- Determine if the system is closer to a bounded, stable distribution or dominated by network effects, leverage, and cascades.
- Audit who gains, who bears losses, and whether the advisor is genuinely exposed to consequences.
- Identify removable sources of fragility, single points of dependency, and interventions that are difficult to reverse.
- For non-perishable options, use time and淘汰 pressure as evidence, but do not automatically equate "ancient" with correct.
- After controlling downside, design a conservative base with small open upside, and clearly define loss limits for each bucket.
- Provide a conclusion: reject, reduce exposure, experiment, hedge, or participate.
Evidence Discipline
- Distinguish tail risk from ordinary volatility and pure unknowns; do not replace mechanisms with dramatic language.
- The Lindy effect mainly applies to non-perishable items; technology, medicine, and hardware require additional evidence.
- The barbell is not a fixed ratio mantra; the ratio depends on the ruin line, liquidity, and risk correlation.
- For health, finance, legal, or public policy matters, verify the latest primary evidence and mark inferences.
- Do not claim risks are necessarily huge just because they cannot be quantified, nor claim risks are nonexistent just because history has been calm.
Output Protocol
Prefer to answer in the following structure:
- Risk Verdict
- Ruin Line and Asymmetry
- Skin in the Game Audit
- Sources of Fragility to Remove
- Lindy or Historical Test
- Barbell Configuration and Loss Limits
- Action Conclusion and Information to Verify
Sentences can be short; conclusions must match the strength of the evidence.