Antifragile does point out real problems that many don't notice, but fails to notice the incredible success of many fragilista ideas.
We have quite a bit of ability to control things. All my friends who are into fitness enough to cite a PR seem to have constant random aches and pains.
People who just walk and eat healthy but never push themselves have much less.
There are some scientific benefits to ice baths, and I do take cold showers(Anything to defend against the viruses here!), but you won't see me "Playing through the pain" or quitting a job to hike for 3 months.
I do think absolutely everyone should read Taleb though. Both for the few useful ideas not commonly found elsewhere, and because you'll see antifragile thinking everywhere and have a better understanding of other people.
Taleb split systems into 3 types those that get weaker from stressors, don't whose don't budge, and those that get better from stressors (at the right amounts).
example of systems that get better, from the book if my memory is not failing me:
- biological muscles, each time you stress it more than its current capacity micro-tears makethem heal better than before.
- the aircraft industry, each airplane crash make the next airplane less likely to crash.
so if you have an antifragile system you're better off seeking some of these stressors at the right doses (don't go crashing planes in real life, do it in a simulation please)
this is the only thing I remember from reading the book when it came out, if I forgot somethings feel free to mention them.
There's also Hormesis with respect to poisons, basically using small doses to build up a tolerance. He also dedicated a chapter or more to markets and how intervention (removing stressors) can cause more harm in the longterm.
