The document discusses the concept of "fragile students" in Confucian heritage cultures where there is intense academic pressure to achieve straight A's. This creates long-term stress and mental health issues for many students. It contrasts this with the idea of "anti-fragile students" who are able to thrive under uncertainty and variability. The key aspects that make students anti-fragile are having optionality in subjects, a strength-based focus to promote convex learning curves, and an embrace of disorder and variability that makes learning a joy rather than a duty.

5. Confucian Heritage
Culture
‘Beijing Confucian Temple’ @ Lijun Yao

6. Confucian Heritage Culture
• Academic excellence is a matter of social status and
identity
• Relentless parental, educational and peer pressure to
excel academically and become a “straight-A” student
• Consequence? Long-term stress for almost all students,
leading to depression, drug abuse (and suicidal
tendencies) for some

7. Expecting millions of
teenagers to be straight-A
students is like expecting
all of them to be world-
class footballers!

8. We are producing fragile
students.

9. The Fragile Student
• Pressured to excel in all areas of academia (or as many areas as
possible) due to social competitiveness and demand for status
[NON-OPTIONALITY]
• Works extremely hard to make only marginal improvement
(especially in ‘weaker’ subjects) [CONCAVITY]
• Learning is a duty, fear-driven and thus superficial [HATES
VARIABILITY]
• Lives with constant fear of failure to succeed or meet expectations
[HEAVY DOWNSIDE, LOW UPSIDE]

10. “The fragile wants tranquility,
the anti-fragile grows from
disorder.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb

11. Fragile
(hates disorder)
• Ponzi schemes, night markets
• Master-Apprentice r’ship
• Rock stars, Artists
• Desire, Obsession
• Planet Earth
• Financial systems, banks
• Over-protective parents
• VIPs’, Politicians
• Morality, Propaganda
• Most things man-made
Anti-Fragile
(thrives on ‘shocks’)

16. ‘Exam Season’ by Richard Pilon @ Flickriver

18. How do we nurture
anti-fragile students?

19. Images via Youtube (bit.ly/1uacXoT)

20. “There were compulsory subjects like Afrikaans, and I
just didn’t see the point of learning that. It seemed
ridiculous. I’d get a passing grade and that was fine.
(But) Things like physics and computers—I got the
highest grade you can get in those.
There needs to be a reason for a grade.
I’d rather play video games, write software, and read
books than try and get an A if there’s no point in
getting an A.” (Elon Musk in Vance, 2015)

21. The barbell strategy is about juxtaposing a
highly conservative strategy with a risk-
loving ‘entrepreneurial’ one.
The first minimizes the downside, the
second maximises the upside.

22. Excel in only those
subjects you love
Do the bare minimum for
all other subjects

23. The anti-fragile student has
OPTIONALITY
‘Options’ by skubmic @ Flickriver

24. The anti-fragile student has
CONVEXITY
‘Fortnite Screenshot’ by Некто Произвольный
@ FlickRiver

25. The anti-fragile student embraces
DISORDER & VARIABILITY
Photos by Rocket Kini

26. The Anti-Fragile Student
• Possesses option to excel in only those subjects one loves (or has a
knack in); removes ‘competition’ and ‘status’ from learning
[OPTIONALITY]
• Strength-based focus ensures progress becomes ‘effortless’ and
exponential [CONVEXITY]
• Learning is a joy, a passion and more authentic [EMBRACES
‘DISORDER’ AND VARIABILITY]
• Lives with constant enthusiasm and expectation of excelling even
more [CLIPS DOWNSIDE, ALL UPSIDE]

28. < THANK YOU >
alwynlau@gmail.com

29. Selected References
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