The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Second edition
Author	Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Language	English
Series	Incerto
Subject	aphorisms, philosophy
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	Random House (U.S.)
Publication date	November 30, 2010
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	157 pp (paperback)
ISBN	978-0-8129-8240-4 (U.S.)
Preceded by	The Black Swan
Followed by	Antifragile

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms is a philosophy book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb written in the aphoristic style. It was first released on November 30, 2010 by Random House.^[1] An updated edition was released on October 26, 2016 that includes fifty percent more material than the 2010 edition.^[1] According to Taleb, the book "contrasts the classical values of courage, elegance, and erudition against the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism, and phoniness." The title refers to Procrustes, a figure from Greek mythology who abducted travelers and stretched or chopped their bodies to fit the length of his bed.^[2]

The book is part of Taleb's five volume philosophical essay on uncertainty, titled the Incerto^[3] and covers Antifragile (2012), The Black Swan (2007–2010), Fooled by Randomness (2001),The Bed of Procrustes (2010–2016), and Skin in the Game (2018).

References

External links

• Janet Maslin, Explaining the Modern World and Keeping It Short New York Times, November 16, 2010