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authorcagray 's review for:
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I think that had I read this rather than listened to it, I might have given up entirely--a lot of the chapters seemed unnecessary, reiterating the same point a hundred different ways. The main concept that intrigued me was the idea that most of the major events in our own lives, as well as events that shape the course of nations, come about as a result of random, or seemingly random events that we cannot plan for (the "black swan"). We think we are in control, but we're not. The best we can do is try to limit our vulnerability to "negative" black swans, while maximizing our possible availability to benefit from "positive" black swan events. This concept intrigued me enough that I immediately went on to read his book, "Antifragile" too.
I knocked off another star because the author is so insufferably smug about how much smarter he is than everyone else, and scathing toward anyone who even slightly misunderstands him. He even seems to brag about his own horrid behavior in public settings toward such people. I gather that he regards his own lack of a filter in public and in writing as the virtue of integrity, in the sense that he says exactly what he thinks, rather than being hypocritical. I might give him that--I suppose that's better than being a jerk only in private, but playing politics in public. What you see is what you get with him, and I can appreciate that to some extent. But I think it's still far better to *actually* have some humility about his own failings (surely he has some!), and some grace about the failings of others.
I knocked off another star because the author is so insufferably smug about how much smarter he is than everyone else, and scathing toward anyone who even slightly misunderstands him. He even seems to brag about his own horrid behavior in public settings toward such people. I gather that he regards his own lack of a filter in public and in writing as the virtue of integrity, in the sense that he says exactly what he thinks, rather than being hypocritical. I might give him that--I suppose that's better than being a jerk only in private, but playing politics in public. What you see is what you get with him, and I can appreciate that to some extent. But I think it's still far better to *actually* have some humility about his own failings (surely he has some!), and some grace about the failings of others.