Skin in the Game

Biological Parallel

Bee workers defending the hive die after stinging—their barbed stingers tear out, eviscerating them. This ultimate 'skin in the game' makes their defensive signals perfectly honest: they only attack genuine threats, because false alarms are fatal. Compare to threat displays by animals with no mortal cost—those signals are cheaper and more frequently dishonest. Taleb's skin in the game captures this: accountability that shares downside eliminates agency problems and makes signals credible.