The logical conclusion of Taleb’s preference for practice over theory is to question the classical Socratic ideal of truth in the first place. Being right, knowing how to define things, understanding the difference between what is true and false: None of this is the point. What is important is to understand the results of events, not the events themselves. An even deeper implication of this approach is that real intelligence lies not in the individual, but in the evolutionary process — the ongoing process of trial-and-error. In this process, he argues, options (essentially, the freedom to experiment with uncertainty) can be more important than knowledge or information. Options allow you to benefit from the feedback trial-and-error provides. And knowing how to apply that feedback to future decisions can be the highest form of wisdom: “wisdom in decision making is vastly more important — not just practically, but philosophically — than knowledge.”

via Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Accepting Uncertainty, Embracing Volatility – Knowledge@Wharton.