I thought something similar, but upon reading your comment and closer inspection, it seems Taleb is focusing on rules not actions (though I only got part way th

I thought something similar, but upon reading your comment and closer inspection, it seems Taleb is focusing on rules not actions (though I only got part way through the article). For example, eating Kosher or Halal is a rule and he is saying that by a minority following this rule, all of us end up by default following the rule. Suicide bombing or smoking is an action which we don't inherently take. We are eating already, so eating kosher or halal isn't a huge difference.