A book review - Fooled by Ramdomness

This is a book review for a book called "Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role Of Chance In Life And In The Markets: by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

One of the very few books that manages to teach, entertain and inspire you to believe all at the same time. Drawing from a large and complicated palatte of scientific fields, Nassim manages to unify seemingly unrelated concepts right into a coherent and logical argument. A tour that power I want we've much more philosophers, mathematicians and scientists who could problem the standard wisdom like Nassim. While not everything he says hits the spot, but his arguments definitely includes a lot of merit.

Yeah, you see. I’ve just checked and most of the other critiques of this guide do pretty much what I thought they'd do. They complain about the tone. This guy isn't going to win an award for modesty and he probably thinks you are silly and also have wasted your existence. And it will get even worse - like that quote from Oscar Wilde which has tormented me for many years: “Work is the refuge of people that have absolutely nothing much better to do”, this guy reckons that in the event you function for more than an hour or so per day you're most likely as well stupid to understand (or deserve) any better.

Inside a short second of modesty, Taleb confesses to psychological weaknesses that may lead him to error noise for sign. He appears rather smug about it all, although. It’s like he figures his capability to recognize himself as a fool puts him on a greater plane. For the most part, his ego is openly displayed. It is also coupled with an axe to grind - an aggressive mixture. His fund has consistently underperformed (though he would counter that he’s positioned just correct for the coming holocaust). His investment strategy boils right down to purchasing lots and a lot of insurance coverage contracts against rare occurrences that he thinks will be slightly less rare. (In actuality, he buys stock options, however the insurance metaphor illustrates the stage.) The problem is he’s so firm in his belief the insurance businesses have underestimated risks that he thinks all premiums are as well reduced. Nevertheless, these promoting choices, armed with designs that account for uncommon events appropriately, will charge greater than enough to cover those dangers.

Who will be fortune’s fool? Time will inform, but a provocateur like Taleb will in all probability be much better known for his quasi-epistemological exposition on unanticipated variability than for any accurate investment good results