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Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and in Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
creech's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for thinkers and business folk. A must re-read for coaches and leaders.
cbcald's review against another edition
Not what I expected and not a subject I’m interested in.
thebookishgal's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars // The beginning was brutal; I wasn't sure I'd finish it. "I just can't," came to mind more than once. But the book picked up toward the end and I didn't mind the author's snark (pretentiousness?) once we got there. Looks like a lot of reviewers took issue with the author's tone, which is understandable. But I didn't mind it so much as the book progressed. That being said, I'd have a hard time recommending this to anyone. It's definitely not an easy crowd pleaser. But I'm glad I've read it, if that makes any sense. I'm sure there are more accessible books out there on randomness, and if you find one, maybe read that one instead?
cade's review against another edition
3.0
This book is another piece of evidence in favor of my theory that smart people write good books. Although many of the ideas in this book were already familiar to me from reading other books (e.g. [b:Thinking, Fast and Slow|11468377|Thinking, Fast and Slow|Daniel Kahneman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793965l/11468377._SX50_.jpg|16402639]; [b:The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns|171127|The Little Book of Common Sense Investing The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns|John C. Bogle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347673616l/171127._SX50_.jpg|165246]), the author has obviously meditated on and deeply assimilated the subject such that he is able to write about it in a way that is precise yet extremely accessible.
gigahurt's review against another edition
4.0
I have enjoyed everything I have read by Nassim Taleb. This book is no exception. With that said, I did enjoy Black Swan and Antifragile more. My favorite take aways:
The Barrel of Reality figure of speech
Work ethic as inefficient mediocrity
Suggestion to cut off from media
Stats for aggressive bets, but not to manage risk or exposure
Carl Popper. Def will checkout The Open Society.
Stop loss concept. Want to have these for every aspect of my life.
Wittgenstein concept about the ruler measuring the thing, but also sometimes learning more about the ruler then the object under measurement.
The Barrel of Reality figure of speech
Work ethic as inefficient mediocrity
Suggestion to cut off from media
Stats for aggressive bets, but not to manage risk or exposure
Carl Popper. Def will checkout The Open Society.
Stop loss concept. Want to have these for every aspect of my life.
Wittgenstein concept about the ruler measuring the thing, but also sometimes learning more about the ruler then the object under measurement.
arneulland's review against another edition
2.0
"One of the smartest books of all time". Common? The concepts in this book were nothing new and should have been understood by all graduates studying even entry-level statistics. Don't find Taleb interesting either as a person. In sum, to quote Tabel "I wonder if the book could be worth my time?", the answer is a striking no! Think people need to revisit their view on this book. Quite sure the 4.08 rating would have been different if no one saw the prior rating from the 50 000+ readers or had heard about it before, aka anchoring.
greg_talbot's review against another edition
4.0
Thumbing through "Fooled By Randomness", Taleb's fleet prose is both fascinating and questionable. Fascinating because the topic of randomness, and its role in our lives is immeasurable. Maybe it's because i've focused on personal investment as my reading pastime lately, but the financial stories (Nero the daytrader, behavioral economics) feel the most grounded. What gets questionable is that theory and insightful discussion are paddled off for silly tangents. Consider the philosophical section about Popper's falsification, and then diving into the less than charming personal characteristics of Popper, or another philosopher Hegel. But when I compare his work here, or "Black Swan", Taleb's hubris doesn't annoy me, as much as amplifies a joy and original thinking to "randomness". Other pop-psychology books i've read of a similar pattern - "Blink" (Gladwell), "Serious Creativity" (Bono) feel flat when they try to be so objective, that they never seriously engage the reader.
A final thought: Taleb brings the idea of randomness to a more universal question about how to live the good life. If we don't have self-agency, how much are we in control of living the good life. These questions have been debated from Plato to Kanye West. Maybe it was just the randomness of his structure, but Taleb brings poetry into the discussion. He gives an impression that maybe randomness is not to be mitigated, instead it should be seen as a vital condition on how we interact with the world.
A final thought: Taleb brings the idea of randomness to a more universal question about how to live the good life. If we don't have self-agency, how much are we in control of living the good life. These questions have been debated from Plato to Kanye West. Maybe it was just the randomness of his structure, but Taleb brings poetry into the discussion. He gives an impression that maybe randomness is not to be mitigated, instead it should be seen as a vital condition on how we interact with the world.