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“The knowledge we get by tinkering, via trial and error, experience, and the workings of time, in other words, contact with the earth, is vastly superior to that obtained through reasoning, something self-serving institutions have been very busy hiding from us.” – Nassim Taleb

How did you learn how to ride your bike?

Did you learn how to ride a bike by reading about it or through trial and error?

If you’re like me, then this is how it probably went.

You started riding your bike with stabilisers, and then, when you got confident in your ability, you’d attempt riding the bike without stabilisers.

Maybe your father would help keep you stable while you kept your balance, but eventually you’d start riding the bike properly.

You probably had a few falls, which caused some minor cuts and grazes.

But the more you tried to ride the bike proficiently, the better you got.

Eventually, with enough practice, riding a bike becomes a breeze.

You see many facets of our lives mimic this same process.

For example:

Learning how to drive a car.
Learning how to read and write.
Becoming proficient at our jobs.
Learning how to invest.
Learning how to lose body fat and build muscle.

Every skill you hope to improve requires trial and error.

Trial and error gives you the best wisdom of all.

Learned wisdom.

Whereas when you read books, you understand the theory of specific subjects.

It’s not until you apply that wisdom in real life that it becomes learned wisdom.

This is the most valuable wisdom, and it is also the most difficult to obtain.

Remember that reading should supplement action.

Action shouldn’t supplement reading.

Without action, we achieve nothing in this world.

Of course, sometimes, you need to know how to achieve a set task that requires some knowledge, such as getting in shape or investing.

However, knowledge is only about 10% of the battle, and behaviour is 90%.

If you want to get in shape or learn how to invest to make the most of your money, I recommend reading the top three books in that genre and getting to work immediately.

As a rule of thumb, don’t read more than three books about an area of your life you’d like to improve before taking action, because by reading any more than that, you’re avoiding the most important part: taking action and doing the work.

Reading the top 3 books in a specific genre should help you understand the first principles of any subject.

Throw away all the self-improvement books and instead improve your life. It’s much more practical than improving “self”.

Nassim Taleb has coined the term intellectual yet idiot ( IYI) for certain people who are all theory and reasoning yet have never done anything concrete and worthwhile in the real world.

In stark contrast, some people, such as Richard Branson, are not intellectual but are successful, practical people who know how to deal with the world as it is, rather than through complex reasoning formulated from an Ivy League university.

Our job is to avoid becoming IYI’s, and instead to deal with the world on an earthly level.