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A review by _walter_
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
2.0
The first thing you should know about this book is that the author fancies himself an "aesthete". That's a little presumptuous, right? "No, no, I know we all like beauty, but I have a refined taste for it..." The only other author who fancied himself one (that I've come across) is Umberto Eco. Unsurprisingly, they both have (or had, in Eco's case...) the irresistible compulsion to tell you about it, and in as many languages as possible. Why do assholes feel like they need to pepper every other sentence with some Latin or French phrase in order to show how so very clever and worldly they are? Mais comme d'habitude, je digresse!
The second thing you ought to know about "Fooled by Randomness" is that, perhaps, only 17.33% of the book is readable, as in worth-your-time. The rest is just self-important ego stroking, rants, and random displays of erudition. See first paragraph. Matter of fact, the second half of the book is more or less a summary of Tversky and Kahneman's work (of [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] fame) along with other bits of pop-psychology, and more aesthetician stuff. Sometimes I wonder if Taleb is just Malcom Gladwell's final form...
Anyways, there are some good nuggets here and there, but nothing that will surprise you much if you are so inclined to read these sorts of books. The whole premise is this: people often attribute skill to what is largely driven by randomness ("lucky fool"), and they tend to underestimate or misinterpret the role of chance in outcomes ("survivorship bias"). He sees this as an opportunity since, by extension, it means that people tend to undervalue rare events, which present a great way to make a lot of money albeit infrequently.
These earlier chapters are done very well since he tries to stick to the subject. But unfortunately, it gets increasingly and non-linearly irritable the further into the book you go.
It gets a "Meh" from me.
The second thing you ought to know about "Fooled by Randomness" is that, perhaps, only 17.33% of the book is readable, as in worth-your-time. The rest is just self-important ego stroking, rants, and random displays of erudition. See first paragraph. Matter of fact, the second half of the book is more or less a summary of Tversky and Kahneman's work (of [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] fame) along with other bits of pop-psychology, and more aesthetician stuff. Sometimes I wonder if Taleb is just Malcom Gladwell's final form...
Anyways, there are some good nuggets here and there, but nothing that will surprise you much if you are so inclined to read these sorts of books. The whole premise is this: people often attribute skill to what is largely driven by randomness ("lucky fool"), and they tend to underestimate or misinterpret the role of chance in outcomes ("survivorship bias"). He sees this as an opportunity since, by extension, it means that people tend to undervalue rare events, which present a great way to make a lot of money albeit infrequently.
These earlier chapters are done very well since he tries to stick to the subject. But unfortunately, it gets increasingly and non-linearly irritable the further into the book you go.
It gets a "Meh" from me.