--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You want to favor systems that benefit…" description: "\"You want to favor systems that benefit from error, disorder, variability and things like that. You want to favor these systems and unfortunately, when ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_benefits_you-want-to-favor-systems-that-benefit-f_587656.png" --- # You want to favor systems that benefit from error… ![“You want to favor systems that benefit from error, disorder, variability and things like that. You want to favor these systems and unfortunately, when - there's something I call the Soviet Illusion. The more the government becomes intrusive, the more things have to follow a script, and it can't…” quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_benefits_you-want-to-favor-systems-that-benefit-f_587656.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_benefits_you-want-to-favor-systems-that-benefit-f_587656.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/330/nassim-nicholas-taleb-352_benefits_you-want-to-favor-systems-that-benefit-f_587656.png) > “You want to favor systems that benefit from error, disorder, variability and things like that. You want to favor these systems and unfortunately, when - there's something I call the Soviet Illusion. The more the government becomes intrusive, the more things have to follow a script, and it can't handle this kind of system.” [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. Systems that thrive on randomness and disorder are stronger, while overly controlled systems fail when faced with unpredictability. **In simple terms:** Chaos makes some systems stronger; control makes others fragile. Key Takeaway Embrace variability, avoid over‑control. Themes resilience complexity government risk adaptation Mood cautious critical analytical Type philosophical practical inspirational When to use this quote - policy design - organizational management - technology development - urban planning - financial regulation Key Concepts antifragility system dynamics entropy robustness Questions to Reflect On - How can we design institutions that benefit from disorder? - What safeguards prevent chaos from becoming harmful? A Different Perspective Such systems may be hard to predict and can cause unintended side effects if not carefully monitored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Benefits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benefits/) [Disorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disorder/) [Errors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/errors/) [Favor Systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favor-systems-4816576/) [Favors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favors/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Intrusive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-intrusive-3182874/) [Handle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handle/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Illusion Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion-government-3669015/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Scripts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scripts/) [Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet/) [Soviet Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-illusion-4816575/) [Variability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variability/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [I harbor no illusion that government and elected office is a panacea for all of society's ills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tubbs/i-harbor-no-illusion-that-government-and-elected-office-is-a-panacea/) [Michael Tubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tubbs/) > [Good Government is not intrusive the people are hardly aware of it; the next best is felt yet loved; then comes that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/good-government-is-not-intrusive-the-people-are-hardly-aware-of-it/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I get if you're a conservative, and you're saying, I don't know, 'Government shouldn't be mandating what's taught in classrooms,' or, 'Government is too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-stephens/i-get-if-you-re-a-conservative-and-you-re-saying-i-don-t-know/) [Bret Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-stephens/) > [When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit. Act for the people's benefit. Trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-taxes-are-too-high-people-go-hungry-when-the-government-is-too/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [It would be a matter of concern for government if intrusive data capture has been deployed against Indian citizens or government infrastructure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kapil-sibal/it-would-be-a-matter-of-concern-for-government-if-intrusive-data/) [Kapil Sibal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kapil-sibal/) > [Anything organic requires some dose of variability so it can adapt all the time, and fixing things is not a good idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/anything-organic-requires-some-dose-of-variability-so-it-can-adapt/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Comfort makes you weaker. We need some variability, some stressors. Not too much, but just enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/comfort-makes-you-weaker-we-need-some-variability-some-stressors-not/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Never, never, never think - that's one lesson you should have in life. Never think that lack of variability is stability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/never-never-never-think-that-s-one-lesson-you-should-have-in-life/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [When an investor focuses on short-term investments, he or she is observing the variability of the portfolio, not the returns - in short, being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/when-an-investor-focuses-on-short-term-investments-he-or-she-is/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [The five-year mean global temperature has been flat for the last decade, which we interpret as a combination of natural variability and a slow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-five-year-mean-global-temperature-has-been-flat-for-the-last-2/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [There are various non-statistical tools that have been typically developed by lean companies, notably by Toyota for minimizing variability in production, such as standardization,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaaki-imai/there-are-various-non-statistical-tools-that-have-been-typically/) [Masaaki Imai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaaki-imai/) > [“Experiences with finite variability become less engaging because they eventually become predictable. Businesses with finite variability are not inferior per se, they just operate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/experiences-with-finite-variability-become-less-engaging-because-they/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) > [The modern joint stock firm is the outcome of innumerable decisions made by individual entrepreneurs, owners and managers. For these decision makers the choices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-d-chandler-jr/the-modern-joint-stock-firm-is-the-outcome-of-innumerable-decisions/) [Alfred D. Chandler, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-d-chandler-jr/) > [The facts of variability, of the struggle for existence, of adaptation to conditions, were notorious enough; but none of us had suspected that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-facts-of-variability-of-the-struggle-for-existence-of-adaptation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nature will eventually do what nature has always done. It will respond in a self-stabilizing manner over the long term with moderate variability over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-sununu/nature-will-eventually-do-what-nature-has-always-done-it-will-respond/) [John H. Sununu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-sununu/) ## 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 Benefits quotes > [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anger is a rough water; if you can canalize it into a water mill, you can benefit from it. Anything bad can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/anger-is-a-rough-water-if-you-can-canalize-it-into-a-water-mill-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Shortly after I turned 50, both Ted Turner and the AARP came into my life. The only difference? With AARP, there were benefits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/shortly-after-i-turned-50-both-ted-turner-and-the-aarp-came-into-my/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) > [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Trust is about keeping commitments, but in many instances, circumstances change and organizations therefore shed commitments, things such as retiree medical benefits, pension obligations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/trust-is-about-keeping-commitments-but-in-many-instances/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-us-think-of-education-as-the-means-of-developing-our-greatest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-hanson/i-won-the-seat-of-oxley-largely-on-an-issue-that-has-resulted-in-me/) [Pauline Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-hanson/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I've always said that I benefit, as an actor, from not having the illusion of security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-sparks/i-ve-always-said-that-i-benefit-as-an-actor-from-not-having-the/) [Hal Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-sparks/) > [Benefits received are a delight to us as long as we think we can requite them; when that possibility is far exceeded, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/benefits-received-are-a-delight-to-us-as-long-as-we-think-we-can/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) [Browse all 3,616 Benefits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benefits/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You want to favor systems that benefit from error, disorder, variability and things like that. 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