Fooled by Randomness
The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
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Buy Now for ₹703.00
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Narrated by:
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Sean Pratt
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Written by:
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Nassim Nicholas Taleb
About this listen
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 CorpCritic Reviews
"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)
Only thing you may have to get used to is his style of writing and Nassim clearly calls this out at the beginning. If you are looking for a flow you may be disappointed. Look at it as tidbits of information interspersed across the book. Once you get over that and if you read this with an open mind, there is a wealth of information you will find in this book. Without a doubt one of the better books I have read written by an extremely intelligent, intellectual and wise man. A must read!
Insightful
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The storytelling and narrative is great. The author gives a good outline of what is wrong with our decision making framework, hints at reasons behind the same, exemplifies it.
Although some techniques are mentioned on bypassing those impulses yet there is much to be desired in terms of depth. In the end I'm afraid this may end up being a book whose summary is much needed and remembered, but the details are forgotten like those self-help books that the author rightly derided.
But I did end up taking away many concepts and writers I'd like to read up on. Seneca the stoic, Mandelbrot's mathematics, Popper and the general idea of probability-vs-risk and how the former is a misfit in today's economic estimation.
Great storytelling, good outline,not as much depth
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Fooled by the reviews
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Thought provoking
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Equally joyful is the way in which book is read. For rest, explore yourself.
Deterministically enjoyable
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