It doesn't delve much into why barbell investing is actually superior. Can it be proven mathematically that barbell investing is superior given whatever power-law distribution etc? Or will you need to use psychology or other social sciences to prove superiority?
Or is it that barbell investing is not necessarily superior but the author prefers that style of operating?
"Another way of looking at this is to invest in yourself. You might put 10 to 20 per cent of your savings towards upskilling, or starting a risky side-business. If it does happen to pay off, the returns will be huge."
"The perfect Barbell Strategy job has “few intellectual demands and high job security, the kind of low risk job that ceases to exist when you leave the office”. Ideally, it should be something that won’t force you to bastardise your other work; non-political and low-profile. You do your nine to five, and then you check out. All your evenings, weekends and vacation time are free for working on your speculative side-hustles.
As Taleb points out, comfy sinecures have frequently been fertile ground for greatness:
The great French poets Paul Claudel and Saint-John Perse and the novelist Stendhal were diplomats; a large segment of English writers were civil servants, Kafka was employed by an insurance company."
Another example is Einstein at the Patent Office. https://www.ige.ch/en/about-us/the-history-of-the-ipi/einstein/einstein-at-the-patent-office.html
"The job at the Federal Office for Intellectual Property – Einstein referred to it tongue-in-cheek as his "cobbler's trade" – turned out to be stroke of good fortune because it was excellently paid (CHF 3500 per year) and was undemanding for his nimble intelligence. He spoke of the Federal Office for Intellectual Property as "that worldly cloister where I hatched my most beautiful ideas". With his courteousness and modesty and his humorous approach to life, Einstein was very well liked. On 1 April 1906, he was promoted to technical expert – class II. He managed his time exactly: eight hours of work, eight hours of «allotria» (miscellaneous) and scientific work, and eight hours of sleep (which he often used instead for writing his manuscripts)."