ANTIFRAGILE

What Does Antifragile Mean in a Text?

The Quick Answer

Antifragile means "Thrives Under Stress and Uncertainty."

More Observations...

Antifragile is a term coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (a Lebanese-American author, scholar, and former options trader), referring to a system or entity that does not simply resist stressors and shocks, but actually thrives and improves in response to them. Antifragility is the opposite of fragility, where a system or entity is weakened or damaged by stressors and shocks. An antifragile system is able to adapt, learn and grow stronger from its experiences with stressors, uncertainty and disorder. As Taleb writes in the book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder:

"Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better."

The concept of antifragility can be applied to various fields, such as biology, economics, engineering, and social systems. It is not inherently a personal philosophy, but individuals can apply the principles of antifragility to their own lives and decision-making processes. For example:

The Greek mythical creature Hydra was a formidably antifragile opponent for Hercules. Every time he cut off a head, two more grew back.
Despite all of the setbacks, they adopted an antifragile mindset and continued the fight for equal rights.

Image for Antifragile

When I write Antifragile, I mean this:

Hydra was the very definition of Antifragile: When one head was cut off, two grew back in its place.

Summary of Key Points

"Thrives Under Stress and Uncertainty" is, by far, the most common meaning for Antifragile when it is used in a text. (Bear in mind that it could have another meaning if used in a different context.)

Antifragile
Definition:	Thrives Under Stress and Uncertainty
Type:	Word
Guessability:	3: Guessable
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

An Academic Look at Antifragile

Antifragile is a neologism. A neologism is a newly coined term or expression that has not yet become widely used or recognized in a particular language or culture. It is often created to describe a new concept, idea, or phenomenon. A neologism can be:

A new meaning for an existing word (e.g., mood, sick).
A completely new word (e.g., oversharers).
A new combination of existing words (e.g., digital detox, antifragile).

Some neologisms are formally accepted into mainstream language (at which point, they cease to be neologisms), and some wither until they can longer be considered everyday terms.