1. Pensée 001
With regard to persistence, myself, and a strange picture in which I came across recently
Posted on April 18, 2013
“ Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful
men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge,
30th President of the United States
See internal note about this picture.
© 2011 ©X -2F0E1R1T X I-NFNEROTV AINTNIOONV sArTl I––O SNt rsicrlt l–y cSotrnicfitdlye nctoianlf idential ALT_Prof Bio_120522
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2. In search of anti-fragility
In the past months there has been much debate on the new concept of "anti-fragility" just proposed by Nassim Taleb with his new book
(519 pages!) devoted to it. In essence, his idea is that as our times are dominated by increasing uncertainty, disorder and unknown, we
can no longer be content with the possibility to shy away from them. More than simply simply limiting ourselves to defend our intrinsic
fragility we should instead dedicate ourselves to look for and conquer unexploited or new capabilities that should benefit from
confronting those three threatening entities.
Mulling over this thoughts, I flashed a strange association between celluloid fabrics, cork oaks, ornithopters ! and myself.
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Note on cover page picture:
George R. White of Stoney Brook, Long Island, New York, former aviator and flying instructor,
on the beach at St. Augustine where he attempted to make the first successful bird-like flight
in history. White is in his foot-propelled, wing flapping, motorless ornithopter, which weighs
118 pounds, is 8 feet in length, and has a wing span of 29,5 feet. The frame was made of
chrome molybdenum covered with a non-inflammable celluloid fabric. !t crashed on the test
flight, but it was later improved.
Date captured: September 21, 1927
Repository: State Library and Archives of Florida, Tallahassee, FL – USA.
Note about myself:
I was born in Oristano, a district capital of the west coast of Sardinia. An area rich in
landscapes shaped by the struggle of resistance to the dominant and mighty Mistral winds.
As this cork oak. As you can see, it was able to twist and adapt, witnessing the determination
to assert its own its vital life-project. A similar type of endurance characterizes the Sardinian
people. They too were able to defend their identity and culture against the numerous
attempts at subjugation and suppression by outside conquerors that have followed through
the centuries. I think this has helped me, in the hard complex job and life I faced, to exercise
the same persistence and determination which President Cooledge was talking about.
Date captured: April 19, 2009 (La Giara plateau, OR – Sardinia)
San Francisco, USA – Image: Striatic
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ALT_Prof Bio_120522