Antilibrary 📚
Nassim Taleb says a library of unread books becomes a visual reminder of what is not known. Underestimating the value of what isn't known — and overvaluing what is — 'misunderstands the likelihood of surprises'.
The growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books … call this collection of unread books an antilibrary … a constant reminder of all the things you don't know. Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan.
Taleb described the relationship between books and knowledge referencing polymath Umberto Eco's 30,000 plus volume (largely unread) library he used as a research tool. Visitors who didn't get the point of such a collection, were consigned to an (effectively) lower intellectual order.
Focusing on the known is a human bias that extends to our mental operations … Just as we need to stand library logic on its head, we will work on standing knowledge itself on its head. Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan.
In Japan, there is a similar concept called tsundoku — 積ん読.
- ↝ Next: How to 🙇♀️ Learn