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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
The few moments of enjoyment in this book were sandwiched by what felt like unbelievably pedantic writing and so much self-congratulatory reminders of how well NNT has done in his careers. The Black Swan is referenced in a number of books that are in the similar vain, dealing with behavioural economics, psychology, and business; and I just don't see why. I found the book to be a struggle from the very beginning of the preface, continuously hoping that I would find a section of the book that actually dealt with the "impact of highly improbable" events, but instead it just felt like NNT going on an on about the philosophers he disagrees with and scientific approaches that were wrong. I found there to be an irony to his assertion that these greats of history were so wrong for their inability to see the world around them, when it felt like he has fallen victim to the same issue. The best part of this reading experience for me was finding that other reviewers found Taleb to be an insufferable, self-loving, and dismissive author. He may find redemption in the nearly 200 pages of additional essays included in the copy I have, but in this lifetime I wont waste another moment to find out.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Frustrating to read, both due to run-on sentences packed with jargon and a LOT of hate on people (20+%? of the book), this book still managed to be incredible and surprising.
I already know I will read this again, which is sad because it was such a slog.
I already know I will read this again, which is sad because it was such a slog.
informative
slow-paced
I did not expect to enjoy a book about statistics and probabilities and uncertainties as much as I did. Masterfully crafted, even though some mathematical elements were a bit blurry to me, this book managed to captivate me and to open my eyes to the occurences in the real world.
In short: don’t use the wrong tools for the wrong job, don’t use Gaussian and/or Mandelbrotian distributions for mapping randomness.
You cannot know uncertainty, you cannot assign a number to it.
This book is rather philosophical, it reads “I wrote a book for money”. Why? Because he bashes everyone and subjects himself to the same confirmation bias for what I suspect to be marketing purposes.
If he was such a great author, why didn’t he publish with some examples from his own career, how he made money, explaining the maths and strategy in laymen’s terms?
You are a master when you can explain in plain words what you preach, whereas this book wreaks of technicalities, but only on a superficial level. Why?
He mentions that people that give positive advice are charlatans (comission) and the ones that give negative (omission) are the right kind. According to whom? What makes the author better than the rest?
When people ask for advice, give it, you owe that to them, especially since they paid for the book, right?
If a business man comes to you seeking advice, sit him down, show him the usual way, and your way, with arguments, not “just don’t predict”.
Unfortunatelly, although great, you need to read the technical incerto and other books to be able do derive something practical from this book. Because of that, 3 stars.
You cannot know uncertainty, you cannot assign a number to it.
This book is rather philosophical, it reads “I wrote a book for money”. Why? Because he bashes everyone and subjects himself to the same confirmation bias for what I suspect to be marketing purposes.
If he was such a great author, why didn’t he publish with some examples from his own career, how he made money, explaining the maths and strategy in laymen’s terms?
You are a master when you can explain in plain words what you preach, whereas this book wreaks of technicalities, but only on a superficial level. Why?
He mentions that people that give positive advice are charlatans (comission) and the ones that give negative (omission) are the right kind. According to whom? What makes the author better than the rest?
When people ask for advice, give it, you owe that to them, especially since they paid for the book, right?
If a business man comes to you seeking advice, sit him down, show him the usual way, and your way, with arguments, not “just don’t predict”.
Unfortunatelly, although great, you need to read the technical incerto and other books to be able do derive something practical from this book. Because of that, 3 stars.
informative
medium-paced
Taleb has a unique style for a pop nonfiction writer - he seems like an older guy who had one idea and now he kind of sees a lot of things through that lense. The book itself is filled with different examples of his key idea but, like most nonfiction books, probably could have been an essay or a blog post and there probably is one already.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Не понимаю, зачем я читал до конца.
Автор всю книгу пережевывает одну мысль - что если все ваше состояние будет зависеть от вашего поведения в случающихся раз в десять лет потрясениях на фондовом рынке, то к чему остальное время тратить время на скрупулезный анализ, предсказывающий поведение рынка в отсутствии потрясений.
Вся книга посвящена неостроумному высмеиванию недальновидности такого поведения, но совет в книге всего один и трудно назвать его оригинальным - не рискуйте всем, а тем чем рискуете, рискуйте по крупному, в расчете на большой выигрыш.
Не тратьте время на чтение этого раздутого текста - там нет больше никаких мыслей!
Автор всю книгу пережевывает одну мысль - что если все ваше состояние будет зависеть от вашего поведения в случающихся раз в десять лет потрясениях на фондовом рынке, то к чему остальное время тратить время на скрупулезный анализ, предсказывающий поведение рынка в отсутствии потрясений.
Вся книга посвящена неостроумному высмеиванию недальновидности такого поведения, но совет в книге всего один и трудно назвать его оригинальным - не рискуйте всем, а тем чем рискуете, рискуйте по крупному, в расчете на большой выигрыш.
Не тратьте время на чтение этого раздутого текста - там нет больше никаких мыслей!