Fooled By Randomness & The Black Swan: Two Books In One

Incerto #1-2

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The hidden role of of chance in life and in the markets.

The impact of the highly improbable

Genres: Psychology, Economics, Business, Nonfiction, Finance, Philosophy

682 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2008

About the author

Nassim Nicholas Taleb spent 21 years as a risk taker (quantitative trader) before becoming a flaneur and researcher in philosophical, mathematical and (mostly) practical problems with probability. 


Taleb is the author of a multivolume essay, the Incerto (The Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, Antifragile, and Skin in the Game) an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision making when we don’t understand the world, expressed in the form of a personal essay with autobiographical sections, stories, parables, and philosophical, historical, and scientic discussions in nonover lapping volumes that can be accessed in any order.

In addition to his trader life, Taleb has also written, as a backup of the Incerto, more than 50 scholarly papers in statistical physics, statistics, philosophy, ethics, economics, international affairs, and quantitative finance, all around the notion of risk and probability.

Taleb is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at NYU's Tandon School of Engineering (only a quarter time position). His current focus is on the properties of systems that can handle disorder ("antifragile").

Taleb believes that prizes, honorary degrees, awards, and ceremonialism debase knowledge by turning it into a spectator sport.

See Wikipedia for more details.

Reviews

[A Bushra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Longest r/iamverysmart post I have ever read

Everyone in our esteemed author's point of view is an idiot, an entertainer, foolish, short sighted, doesn't understand... etc.

Irritating style of writing, so many diversions, anecdotes, and tangential hypotheticals that you forget what the original point is. For all his self-congratulatory comments, his explanations of many concepts are extremely basic and shallow. Perhaps he has great insights and knowledge, share it he did not.

[John Francy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas but presentation a bit wandering and wordy.

[K D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Taleb never disappoints.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an OK read...
A few good ideas, but with multiple repetitions, and a lot of rambling.
Enjoyable writing style.

[Shakti nagpal · Rating 1 out of 5]

pakau.......... boring...........

[Himanshu Rajput]

A heavy philosophical dose...Over all a good read.Opens up new perspective of seeing world and things.