Taleb makes the point that the economic cost of acts of commission and acts of omission are equivalent (and I like this, a dollar not lost is a dollar earned), but that in our minds they are very different.
People do not realize that success consists mainly in avoiding losses, not in trying to derive profits.
He says that positive advice is usually the province of the charlatan (don't hold back Nassim...tell us what you really think). And he uses the example of bookshelves being full of books on how someone became successful, and how there are very few about those who went bankrupt.
Linked to this need for positive advice is the preference we have to do something rather than nothing, even in cases when doing something is harmful.
I would just make the point that the finance industry is built on this fallacy and takes advantage of this psychological glitch in our make-up.
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