The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives." Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. He offers surprisingly simple tricks for dealing with black swans and benefiting from them.