The phrase “black elephant” has been gaining traction on social media. This is an amalgamation of two phrases. One, “The elephant in the room” is about something large and obvious that is being ignored or overlooked. The other, “black swan” is an event that seems impossible and unpredictable until it occurs. A “black elephant” therefore, is an apparently unpredictable event that should actually be very predictable.
It is impossible to prepare for a black swan, by definition. At best, it is possible to build robust systems that can cope with it. It is possible to prepare for a black elephant, but this is an event that people choose not to prepare for.
One example of a black elephant was the
