--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What should we control? As a rule…" description: "\"“What should we control? As a rule, intervening to limit size (of companies, airports, or sources of pollution), concentration, and speed are beneficia..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/436/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_black-swan_what-should-we-control-as-a-rule-interve_3021073.jpg" --- # What should we control? As a rule, intervening to limit… ![“What should we control? As a rule, intervening to limit size (of companies, airports, or sources of pollution), concentration, and speed are beneficial in reducing Black Swan risks.” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/436/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_black-swan_what-should-we-control-as-a-rule-interve_3021073.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/436/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_black-swan_what-should-we-control-as-a-rule-interve_3021073.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/436/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_black-swan_what-should-we-control-as-a-rule-interve_3021073.jpg) > ““What should we control? As a rule, intervening to limit size (of companies, airports, or sources of pollution), concentration, and speed are beneficial in reducing Black Swan risks.”” [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Limiting size, concentration, and speed reduces exposure to unpredictable, high‑impact events **In simple terms:** Control scale, concentration, speed to curb Black Swan risk Key Takeaway Apply constraints to mitigate extreme risks Themes risk uncertainty control complexity Mood analytical cautious Type strategic prescriptive When to use this quote - financial markets - urban planning - environmental policy - corporate governance Key Concepts systems theory risk mitigation regulation Questions to Reflect On - Which controls are most effective? - When might constraints backfire? A Different Perspective Over‑regulation may stifle innovation and adaptability ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black swan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-swan/) [Control Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-rule-1174211/) [Intervening Limit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intervening-limit-4890502/) [Rule Intervening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rule-intervening-4890501/) [Swan Risks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swan-risks-4890500/) ## Related quotes > [“Your King rules over everything that would discourage and disappoint you, and he rules for your good and his glory. What is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/your-king-rules-over-everything-that-would-discourage-and-disappoint/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [“Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet a billion times the size of the earth. 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No matter how much you prepare, have redundant systems, or audit, there will periodically be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg/i-think-that-all-services-will-have-downtime-no-matter-how-much-you/) [Matt Mullenweg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mullenweg/) ## More by Nassim Nicholas Taleb > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Wittgenstein's ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/wittgenstein-s-ruler-unless-you-have-confidence-in-the-ruler-s/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/in-politics-we-face-the-choice-between-warmongering-nation-state/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [My nightmare scenario is that the government saves Citibank once again, as well as the other banks, and business resumes as usual. 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Does it mean that the work involved in the trip…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/one-needs-to-go-out-and-buy-a-lottery-ticket-in-order-to-win-does-it/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/individuals-should-think-about-the-worst-case-scenarios-and-plan-for/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“If you are looking for your misplaced wallet in your living room, in a trial and error mode, you exercise rationality by not looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-are-looking-for-your-misplaced-wallet-in-your-living-room-in-a/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Most humans manage to squander their free time, as free time makes them dysfunctional, lazy, and unmotivated—the busier they get, the more active they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/most-humans-manage-to-squander-their-free-time-as-free-time-makes/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-learn-the-most-from-fools-yet-we-pay-them-back-with-the-worst/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We are victims of the post-Enlightenment view that the world functions like a sophisticated machine, to be understood like a textbook engineering problem and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/we-are-victims-of-the-post-enlightenment-view-that-the-world/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“loss of bone density and degradation of the health of the bones also causes aging, diabetes, and, for males, loss of fertility and sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/loss-of-bone-density-and-degradation-of-the-health-of-the-bones-also/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“It takes a huge investment in introspection to learn that the thirty or more hours spent “studying” the news last month neither had any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-takes-a-huge-investment-in-introspection-to-learn-that-the-thirty/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) [Explore all 635 Nassim Nicholas Taleb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) ## More Black swan quotes > [I think that all services will have downtime. No matter how much you prepare, have redundant systems, or audit, there will periodically be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg/i-think-that-all-services-will-have-downtime-no-matter-how-much-you/) [Matt Mullenweg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mullenweg/) > [Blood is the leitmotif of 'Black Swan.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/blood-is-the-leitmotif-of-black-swan/) [Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/) > [When I saw the movie 'Black Swan,' I liked the darker aspect of it, the more dramatics, and that's what I like to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaetlyn-osmond/when-i-saw-the-movie-black-swan-i-liked-the-darker-aspect-of-it-the/) [Kaetlyn Osmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaetlyn-osmond/) > [I launched Ballet Beautiful not long after finishing at Columbia and met Natalie Portman shortly after. We began training and preparing her for her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-helen-bowers/i-launched-ballet-beautiful-not-long-after-finishing-at-columbia-and/) [Mary Helen Bowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-helen-bowers/) > [Technical things are getting more mechanical. Take 'Swan Lake,' the Black Swan pas de deux. Now, my goodness, they're turning not just 32 fouettes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-makarova/technical-things-are-getting-more-mechanical-take-swan-lake-the-black/) [Natalia Makarova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-makarova/) > [“Black Swan has three attributes: unpredictability, consequences, retrospective explainability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/black-swan-has-three-attributes-unpredictability-consequences/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“The scientific method asserts that one cannot prove a hypothesis, only disprove it. Seeing more white swans may strengthen the hypothesis, but seeing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-jolly/the-scientific-method-asserts-that-one-cannot-prove-a-hypothesis-only/) [Rich Jolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-jolly/) > [The very first film I ever saw was a pirate movie called 'The Black Swan' with Tyrone Power. And I thought that was great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridley-scott/the-very-first-film-i-ever-saw-was-a-pirate-movie-called-the-black/) [Ridley Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridley-scott/) > [No amount of observations of white swans can allow the inference that all swans are white, but the observation of a single black swan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-amount-of-observations-of-white-swans-can-allow-the-inference-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The narrative fallacy, Bezos explained, was a term coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2007 book The Black Swan to describe how humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-narrative-fallacy-bezos-explained-was-a-term-coined-by-nassim/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With 'Black Swan,' the ballerina saga flips its tiara and goes on a hallucinatory bender, a scary acid trip where transfiguration and disfiguration meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/with-black-swan-the-ballerina-saga-flips-its-tiara-and-goes-on-a/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [“The Black Swan,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-black-swan/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries, Crown Business, September 12, 2011 The Black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-e-moreira/the-lean-startup-how-today-s-entrepreneurs-use-continuous-innovation/) [Mario E. Moreira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-e-moreira/) > [The central idea in The Black Swan is that: rare events cannot be estimated from empirical observation since they are rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-central-idea-in-the-black-swan-is-that-rare-events-cannot-be/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > ['Black Swan' does what Hollywood movies have always done - it spends its energies on getting some surface things right while getting everything important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/black-swan-does-what-hollywood-movies-have-always-done-it-spends-its/) [Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/) [Browse all 57 Black swan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-swan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What should we control? 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