Negative Leads to Positive
The concept of via negativa comes from theology as one way to describe God by what God is not (e.g., without limit, ineffable, immutable).
Nasim Nicholas Taleb (author of Incerto on the Related Perspectives Reading List) applies via negativa to show how to make anything durable (anti-fragile) by removal of the unnecessary. In practical terms, Taleb’s explanation of this profound idea: Less is More. Adding the unnecessary has multiplicative downside effects, even if those multiplicative side-effects may not reveal themselves for some time.
In his own words from Talks at Google:
The two rules that distill via negativa into daily practice are (1) Don’t do stupid stuff, and (2) Eliminate the downside. Putting these rules into practice has profound benefits.
Here are 10 ways applying via negativa can result in positive benefit:
1. Relationships – Eliminate or set clear boundaries on relationships that contribute stress and frustration, and be happier.
2. Investing – Rule #1: “Don’t lose money.” Warren Buffett popularized the first rule of investing because it emphasizes the elimination of downside and makes it possible to benefit from compounding over longer periods of time.
3. Sport – Eliminate unforced errors. The difference between amateurs and professionals is that professionals have learned to avoid the mistakes. In tennis: minimize unforced errors like double faults (not going for low probability first serve aces). In golf: swing with 80% power to keep the golf ball in the middle of the fairway (instead of swinging hard for 50 yards longer).
4. Meditation – Letting go of the mind, embracing quietness, and relinquishing control fosters a deeper understanding of emotions and reality.
5. Art – Remove unnecessary colors, designs, fixtures to highlight what is truly unique and beautiful. When asked how he created the masterpiece statue of David, Michelangelo said: “I just removed everything that is not David.”
6. Health – Cut out that which is unhealthy. Eliminate negative habits such as over-eating, over-drinking, over-exerting, over-engineered toxins is a faster way to benefits of better sleep, mood, energy and health (when compared to supplements, diets, fads).
7. Business Strategy – Eliminate what is non-strategic (i.e. what does not directly contribute to Revenue growth, Profit growth or improving Returns on Capital). In most businesses, removal of non-strategic activities can double profits in less than one year and lead to more engaged employees.
8. Medicine – The Hippocratic Oath which originated in ancient Greece has been distilled to the principle “First do no harm.” The principle guides almost all of today’s global healthcare regulatory frameworks as “safety first” and emphasize the importance of understanding the balance of benefits and risks before recommending a treatment.
9. Strength – Exercise programs with fewer exercises, fewer sets, fewer fancy equipment result in fewer injuries, faster recovery, more energy and strength. This approach has been successfully followed by Olympic level athletes.
10. Focus to achieve anything – Too many random things clutter mental and physical realm preventing concentration on that which is most important. Eliminate things that do not contribute to what is most important.
Subscribe to Related Perspectives free weekly newsletter here.