The Black Swan

The Black Swan works best as an advice book. In part, that's because the unpredictable is most undervalued in our personal lives. Too many of us are caught up in routine, or a "status quo bias," as it is labeled by economists and psychologists. We are afraid to move house or change jobs or even to imagine alternative paths. It is disquieting to think we might be making bad choices, so we close off options and we shut down self-critical reasoning, whether subconsciously or by active choice. For instance, we're likely to buy certain commercial products simply because they are familiar and therefore comforting; that is why branding and advertising so influence consumers.

Via Slate.