The Bed of Procrustes

The Bed of Procrustes is a philosophy book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb written in an aphoristic style. It first appeared on November 30, 2010, published by Random House, and an updated edition released in 2016 added roughly fifty percent more material. It forms part of Taleb's five-volume philosophical essay on uncertainty, the Incerto, alongside Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile and Skin in the Game.

In Taleb's own words, the book contrasts the classical values of courage, elegance and erudition with the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism and phoniness. Its aphorisms range over topics such as work understood as a form of systemic slavery, procrastination as a rebellion against rigidity, the obsession with efficiency as an obstacle to a heroic life, and money as a measure of personal freedom.

The title refers to Procrustes, a figure from Greek mythology who forced travelers to fit his bed, stretching or cutting their bodies to suit it. The phrase "Procrustean bed" describes people who bend reality to their own view of things, who resent objections and who cannot tolerate anyone rising above their mediocrity. The book takes that image as the thread of a critique of conformity and of intellectual and moral smallness.