Antifragility: Dynamical Balance

Abstract: The fragile are damaged by perturbations. The robust are not affected by perturbations. The antifragile benefit from perturbations. Developed only a decade ago by Nassim Taleb, antifragility has been found in a broad range of phenomena. Examples of antifragility include physical exercise, the immune system, hormesis, and Mexican aguas frescas. I will present a measure of antifragility we proposed recently, and examples of its application to study stocks, cryptocurrencies, genetic regulatory networks, and ecosystems. Antifragility basically exploits environmental perturbations (noise) to drive a system towards balance. Certainly, “optimal antifragility” will depend on how much noise and how variable environments are, which highlights the relevance of adaptation.