Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music & Entertainment
Fragile, robust, or anti-fragile?

Fragile, robust, or anti-fragile?

Last updated on: September 15, 2023 at 8:00 am by Coyle Neal

0 Comments

Fragile, robust, or anti-fragile? 2023-09-11T14:09:16-06:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How do we respond when things go wrong? When disaster strikes, when we suffer, when the hard times come? There are three options: We can collapse under the stress, in which case we are “fragile.” Maybe we are strong enough to endure and survive the catastrophe more or less unscathed, in which case we are “robust.” But maybe some of us are the sort of people (or objects, ideas, or institutions) who not only endure suffering but are actually made better by it. This last category is the “antifragile.” At least, all that according to Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2012 book Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder.

Image: Amazon

Obviously as Christians we are going to think there’s something to this. We expect to suffer in the world, and in that suffering to mature in Christ. For that matter, our King suffered for us, was the ‘Man of Sorrows’ and through His suffering set us free from our sin. Our good was accomplished by His pain.

On a more mundane level, suffering is one of the ways we grow in the world. Children learn to walk, and in doing so put stress on their legs, which develops their leg muscles, which enable them to walk more, which puts more stress on their leg muscles, etc. Athletes put stress on their minds and bodies more generally; intellectuals grow when the put mental stress on themselves by exploring new and unfamiliar ideas; farmers have to stress the soil with a plow to raise crops, and then kills the crops to harvest–both historically by the sweat of their brow. And so on. It is hard to think of something in the world that doesn’t benefit from pain and suffering–or the broad phrase in the subtitle: “disorder.”

And yet, I think we have to be a bit careful here. To say that there will be suffering in the world and that we should grow from and through it is not the same thing as saying that suffering is a good thing. It is a reality, and it might at times have good effects, but it is not good itself. The blessing that comes from salvation is a good thing, but the crucifixion was the greatest injustice in the history of the world. The liberation of Europe during World War 2 was a good thing with a positive result, but let’s not pretend the horrors of World War 2 were inherently good.

Likewise, the tone of this book is off-putting, and that’s deeply unfortunate because Antifragile is an interesting book that needs to be read. But those who might be convinced of its arguments might also be put off by the condescension dripping off may of its pages, while those who are in agreement won’t necessarily be helped by this. No doubt the author would say I’m “fragile.” Maybe so. But that doesn’t change the fact that we should speak gentle and kindly even when speaking hard truths. A second edition of this book (or a different book making the same argument) would be a great benefit.

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO

Books

Philosophy

Previous Post

September 12, 2023

Common Grace, 3.59

Next Post

September 19, 2023 Common Grace, 3.60

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"No disagreement with any of that--though I've not heard "Moments" and will have to look ..."

cneal

Top of the Country: Amen

"The song is quite bouncy, even upbeat, considering the subject matter. (His "pills" ran out ..."

TheOldMaid

Top of the Country: Amen

"One noteworthy series in this area is valuable lessons in law. This series helps young ..."

Thomas White

The Law

"The longevity of Parker's lectures and teachings after his death is no more surprising than ..."

reggiebannister

Proclaiming Christ Still

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many minor prophets are there in the Old Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

12 7 15 10