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Fooled by Randomness

The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

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Fooled by Randomness

Written by: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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This audiobook is about luck, or more precisely, how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. It is already a landmark work and its title has entered our vocabulary. In its second edition, Fooled by Randomness is now a cornerstone for anyone interested in random outcomes.

Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill, the world of trading, this audiobook is a captivating insight into one of the least understood factors of all our lives. In an entertaining narrative style, the author succeeds in tackling three major intellectual issues: the problem of induction, the survivorship biases, and our genetic unfitness to the modern word. Taleb uses stories and anecdotes to illustrate our overestimation of causality and the heuristics that make us view the world as far more explainable than it actually is.

The audiobook is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: Yogi Berra, the baseball legend; Karl Popper, the philosopher of knowledge; Solon, the ancient world's wisest man; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Ulysses. We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life, but who also falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness.

But the most recognizable character remains unnamed, the lucky fool in the right place at the right time - the embodiment of the "Survival of the Least Fit". Such individuals attract devoted followers who believe in their guru's insights and methods. But no one can replicate what is obtained through chance.

It may be impossible to guard against the vagaries of the Goddess Fortuna, but after listening to Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared.

©2004 Nassim Nicholas Taleb; (P)2008 Gildan Media Corp
Investing & Trading Mathematics Philosophy Business Investing Thought-Provoking Stock Computer Science
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What the critics say

"[Taleb is] Wall Street's principal dissident....[ Fooled by Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther's ninety-nine theses were to the Catholic Church." (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker)
"An articulate, wise, and humorous meditation on the nature of success and failure that anyone who wants a little more of the former would do well to consider." (Amazon.com)
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There are few books you have to and want to read again and again. This is one

Great book

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I am not an investor but find Nasim’s books insetting. I listen or read his books and try to use my leading and improve my thinking process and my personal life.
In one of the chapters he mentioned Al Ghazli as an Arab philosopher.He was Persian born in the city of Tus, in Khorasan province of Iran. He could refer to home as Arab speaking Philosopher from Iran or at that time Persia.

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Good book. Interesting unpopular view points that i doubt many within the "matrix" would agree with even though the observations and conclusions are highly plausible.

A book about the obvious ...

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Not what I expected. Thoroughly enjoyable book that challenged my preconceptions about who wins in business.

Crazy fun book

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I love the way Nassim Taleb thinks and the way he tells his stories. I will eventually read all his book.

Great book

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