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Skin in the Game
- Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Series: Incerto
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Philosophy
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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.
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Great storytelling, good outline,not as much depth
- By Gunjan Juyal on 15-02-19
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A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world.
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A disaster if applied to reality
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In this landmark audiobook, David Epstein shows that the way to excel is by sampling widely, gaining a breadth of experiences, taking detours, experimenting relentlessly, juggling many interests - in other words, by developing range. Studying the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors and scientists, Epstein discovered that in most fields - especially those that are complex and unpredictable - generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. They are also more creative, more agile and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see.
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More people need to read this
- By Km on 23-02-21
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Money - investing, personal finance, and business decisions - is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money.
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Unmissable !
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I expected much more.
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A disaster if applied to reality
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More people need to read this
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Money - investing, personal finance, and business decisions - is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money.
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The latest groundbreaking tome from Tim Ferriss, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek. For the last two years, I've interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview.
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Reinvent yourself
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Why do smart people make irrational decisions every day? The answers will surprise you. Predictably Irrational is an intriguing, witty and utterly original look at why we all make illogical decisions. Why can a 50p aspirin do what a 5p aspirin can't? If an item is free, it must be a bargain, right? Why is everything relative, even when it shouldn't be? How do our expectations influence our actual opinions and decisions? In this astounding audiobook, behavioural economist Dan Ariely cuts to the heart of our strange behavior....
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Awesome book
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Too long for it's own good
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Ben Horowitz offers essential advice on building and running a startup - practical wisdom for managing the toughest problems business school doesn’t cover, based on his popular ben’s blog. While many people talk about how great it is to start a business, very few are honest about how difficult it is to run one. The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures, drawing from Horowitz’s personal and often humbling experiences.
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a one time listen
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The Great Mental Models
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The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts is the first book in The Great Mental Models series designed to upgrade your thinking with the best, most useful and powerful tools so you always have the right one on hand. This volume details nine of the most versatile all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making, your productivity, and how clearly you see the world.
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a good summary of other books
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Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career.
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love this book.
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In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a ground-breaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think and make choices. One system is fast, intuitive and emotional; the other is slower, more deliberative and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities-and also the faults and biases-of fast thinking and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behaviour.
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difficult to hear it on audible
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The Strategy of Conflict
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A series of closely interrelated essays on game theory, this book deals with an area in which progress has been least satisfactory - the situations where there is a common interest as well as conflict between adversaries: negotiations, war and threats of war, criminal deterrence, extortion, tacit bargaining. It proposes enlightening similarities between, for instance, maneuvering in limited war and in a traffic jam; deterring the Russians and one's own children; the modern strategy of terror and the ancient institution of hostages.
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- Kind of the Story of My Life
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Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you’ve ever met or anyone you’ve even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert, one of the world’s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams shares the game plan he’s followed since he was a teen: invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket.
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A very different view to looking at Life
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The Beginning of Infinity
- Explanations That Transform the World
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- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 20 hrs
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A bold and all-embracing exploration of the nature and progress of knowledge from one of today's great thinkers. Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly miraculous. In this important new book, David Deutsch, an award-winning pioneer in the field of quantum computation, argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe.
Publisher's Summary
Number-one New York Times best seller
A bold work from the author of The Black Swan that challenges many of our long-held beliefs about risk and reward, politics and religion, finance and personal responsibility.
In his most provocative and practical book yet, one of the foremost thinkers of our time redefines what it means to understand the world, succeed in a profession, contribute to a fair and just society, detect nonsense, and influence others. Citing examples ranging from Hammurabi to Seneca, Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows how the willingness to accept one's own risks is an essential attribute of heroes, saints, and flourishing people in all walks of life.
As always both accessible and iconoclastic, Taleb challenges long-held beliefs about the values of those who spearhead military interventions, make financial investments, and propagate religious faiths. Among his insights:
- For social justice, focus on symmetry and risk sharing. You cannot make profits and transfer the risks to others, as bankers and large corporations do. You cannot get rich without owning your own risk and paying for your own losses. Forcing skin in the game corrects this asymmetry better than thousands of laws and regulations.
- Ethical rules aren't universal. You're part of a group larger than you, but it's still smaller than humanity in general.
- Minorities, not majorities, run the world. The world is not run by consensus but by stubborn minorities asymmetrically imposing their tastes and ethics on others.
- You can be an intellectual yet still be an idiot. "Educated philistines" have been wrong on everything from Stalinism to Iraq to low carb diets.
- Beware of complicated solutions (that someone was paid to find). A simple barbell can build muscle better than expensive new machines.
- True religion is commitment, not just faith. How much you believe in something is manifested only by what you’re willing to risk for it.
The phrase "skin in the game" is one we have often heard but have rarely stopped to truly dissect. It is the backbone of risk management, but it's also an astonishingly rich worldview that, as Taleb shows in this book, applies to all aspects of our lives. As Taleb says, "The symmetry of skin in the game is a simple rule that's necessary for fairness and justice and the ultimate BS-buster," and "Never trust anyone who doesn't have skin in the game. Without it, fools and crooks will benefit, and their mistakes will never come back to haunt them."
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What listeners say about Skin in the Game
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mahesh Paradkar
- 21-11-20
heavy metal psycho, stats, probability hidden
great narrative, for the psychology, statistics, probability, risk management buffs, quite technical at many places. I will need another pass at it to get the grip.. but loved it.
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 20-02-21
Difficult text to understand
Using of so many difficult phrases makes you feel lost while listening. perhaps simplyfing the text will make it more understandable and enjoyable.
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- krishnan
- 02-11-20
Thoroughly enjoyed every facets covered!
Believe it is not a glance & forget kinda book. Needs re-reading to assimilate & progress further...
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- Jim jason
- 08-09-20
Interesting views
The subject matter is interesting and has been read out very well.The combination of a good strong voice and well expressed viewpoint of the author made listening to it an enjoyable experience for me .
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- Narendra
- 18-07-20
mindblowing
listened to it twice . back to back .understand the concepts and its eye opener
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- gonarkarsb
- 22-05-20
Great quality audio must listen
Incredible quality of storytelling. Thanks for recording it.
I strongly recommend it for NNT fans books
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- Suresh V
- 25-02-20
Book liked by Lindy (and me as well)
I wouldn't have written this in a bumpy car ride, but realized it would mean a lack of SITG. as with great books, it expands the mind and then itself expands upon re-reading. anything that survives (preferably in the collective) is rational. virtue is what you do when nobody is looking. NNT is Lindy's biographer.
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-11-19
Great book and great narration
Naration by joe gels in well with the words of Nassim Taleb. Will be listening to it for the 3rd time soon.
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- RM
- 20-05-19
dissappointed with Taleb
I was a Nassim Taleb fan until this book. While he still is a great narrator and makes a point well, he's started to get a bit irrational in this book. Nassim is over simplifying real world dynamics in skin in the game. While justifying Hamurabi's philosophy of an eye for an eye he demonstrates a little impatience with humanity and ignores the complications of arriving at such punishment decisions. The impact it may have on the economy and quality of innovation of people is completely ignored. He is also belittling modern philosophers and economists a lot.
And more surprisingly he has started to justify superstitions, well almost. I find him taking sides of the orthodox with a reasoning that I find defective. His understanding of theory of evolution is suspect as he calls the superstions surviving for thousands of years must have a purpose. What Mr Taleb? really? You must read Richard Dawkin's THE GOD DELUSUON.
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- Aun Abdullah
- 22-01-19
Powerful arguement
having read black swan and fooled by randomness, i was expecting this to be a powerhouse as well.
highly recommended for anyone who wishes to understand responsibility and risk, while interested in decoding the in context realities.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jeremy
- 11-03-18
Brilliance smothered by Condescension and Petty Squabbling
I’ve enjoyed and applies Taleb’s insights for years, but this book was so infused with petty arguments and dismissive quips that it was difficult to pull anything useful from it. The author uncharacteristically wandered off topic so often that trying to reconstruct his arguments almost took more effort than the insight seemed worth. I think there were some pretty significant insights (“don’t confuse data for mathematical rigor” for example). But the book as a whole was so condescending and vitriolic to anyone who disagreed with the author about his past ideas, which is strange coming from someone who preaches such a stoic view of things. I think the author had some very important ideas, but it will take serious work to find them if you aren’t interested in taking the author’s side in all the flame wars he’s either started or been dragged into.
142 people found this helpful
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- Jeremy Teeter
- 03-03-18
The expansion pack to Antifragile
If you've never read Taleb before, pass on this book for now and go read Fooled by Randomness or The Black Swan. This book, while fascinating to long time Taleb fans, is more preaching to the choir, and so he skips a lot of he lead up and background discussions that had been part of the backbone of his other books. I valued the discussion of minority rule and the concept of an absorbing barrier applied to financial ruin, and the authors use of unreliable narratives was entertaining as always. That said, the ideas in this book are minor points compared to his other works, and I found myself wishing he had waited another year or two to continue fleshing out the ideas in this book to allow it to be up to the same standards of his other works.
117 people found this helpful
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- Hessa Al-thani
- 22-06-18
Better off read than heard
There's a lot in here that should be read over and mulled over to fully appreciate the author's message. I stopped half way because I'd much rather read it and carefully consider the author's conjectures rather than taking them for granted. I gave the performance a 2 because there were times when the reader added his own tone to the text.
8 people found this helpful
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- Larry C
- 14-03-18
Didn’t care for this one.
I loved the other three books but this one seemed to be mainly an opportunity to vent for the author. Way too much belittling of others and more “I”s than I think I have ever read in a book that was not an autobiography.
41 people found this helpful
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- Alex
- 17-05-18
some interesting stuff in here
for example, defining rationality in terms of behaviors not beliefs. And businesses that are succesfull are by definition not stupid.
5 people found this helpful
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- Ramiro Torres
- 05-05-18
Great Summation of lost Accountability.
succinct discourse on the hidden art of accountability linking inter-relational action/inaction in our Societal stagnation/progress
5 people found this helpful
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- Nicholas E. Ertz
- 21-04-18
Asymmetries be damned.
Taleb will make you think. He may also make you yell at the window and kick the dog. He brooks no half-hearted response. In this epistle, we hear him remind us to trust no one who gives advice and has no "skin in the game". What is their risk? This is part of the series that includes Black Swan. Read it. (My skin is that you will think me a fool if I'm wrong.)
5 people found this helpful
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- Scott H
- 02-03-18
Taleb's snobbery and condescension @ all time high
For someone who rails against critics breaking his principle of charity in not using straw man arguments against his main points, he sure does it himself an awful lot. For example, he uses Richard Thaler's self deprecating story about enjoying a tie his wife bought him when he wouldn't have bought it himself as proof of what an idiot Thaler is. Thaler feels this mental accounting is irrational and Taleb does not. I'm inclined to lean toward what I take to be Taleb's argument that the term 'irrational' is overplayed and does not really describe what is happening in a lot of the behavioral economics studies but to just dismiss the whole field as bunk goes much too far. That is where his ideas about heuristics that he uses to criticize Richard Dawkins come from after all. I bet Dawkins would even concede the point that an outfielder is using heuristics rather than subconsciously doing differential equations to anticipate where to go as he originally wrote decades ago.
Taleb makes some good points but he always overplays his hand and portrays himself and a very small handful of his heroes who 'have skin in the game' as the only people in the world who have contributed anything worthwhile.
Some of the things I liked:
-His points about vocal minorites having large impact on public policy or commerce e.g., kosher foods, non-gmo foods, smoking in restaurants.
-Don't tell me what you think, tell me what's in your portfolio. All that really matters is our actions- not our opinions.
I would give this another star but I'm so turned off by his self aggrandizement and unwarranted dismissal of every scientist, school teacher, public servant, and 9-5 employee that I can't do it.
107 people found this helpful
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- SelfishWizard
- 18-03-18
All the Arrogance, Anger and Bile you can Eat!
Taleb interrupts the flow of his work (such as it is) to rant throughout against Michelin starred restaurants, "idiot intellectuals", suit and tie executives, journalists, scientists, academics, genetically modified food (go figure) and in fact pretty much all food other than pizza (made with fresh ingredients) and hamburgers.
He prefers weightlifters to professors and almost anything to Stephen Pinker. He dislikes any and all who aren't what he considers to be traders and risk takers. Gym equipment other than bar bells and sommeliers come in for his especial ire. But he likes brutish looking inarticulate doctors. The non brutish amongst us he considers to be effete and impudent snobs offering comments on matters on which they have no skin in the game. It is hard to see what "skin" Taleb actually has in this irritable list of things he doesn't like.
The book feels like it was dashed off after too many beers on the way to a barroom brawl.
But Taleb obviously delights in his angry skewering of the rest of the world. Somehow he sells this stuff "to the Swiss" (his trading term for the average faceless sucker), so more power to him for developing a business plan and finding a paying audience for his bile.
48 people found this helpful
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- N.F.
- 08-03-18
Parting ways with Taleb
I enjoyed previous works by Taleb like Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan. However, I couldn't stand this one. It is so full of derision against anyone who is not exactly like him, so full of his many personal vendettas that is incoherent.
He skips from subject to subject with little logic, and covers subject rather superficially. He arrogantly dismisses scientists, doctors, economists and then goes on to peddle what are basically conspiracy theories. Then he goes on to raise on a pedestal "ancient wisdom". I almost had the feeling that he would advocate spitting at black cat like my grandmother because it is wisdom that survived, unlike taking statins which is new science.
In conclusion, if I met Taleb, I would suggest he took a nice long look at the mirror. He might recognise one of his "Intellectual Yet Idiot"s there.
56 people found this helpful
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- Tim
- 05-03-18
Another great work by Teleb
If you've read anything else by Teleb, you won't be disappointed with Skin in the Game. Another thoughtful rant covering many fields and subjects. If you haven't read anything by him before... I would suggest reading fooled by randomness first, but that's just personal preference, his books can be read in any order. I can't recommend them highly enough. They prove what the majority of people believe about risk, probability and indeed life, is wrong.
9 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 27-05-18
Diminishing returns
Skin in the Game is an enjoyable collection of anecdotes, observations and angry diatribes. It is also much inferior to the previous three volumes in the "Incerto" series. Taleb is still scratching the same itch and seeking after the same high. But he has run out of things to say.
His message remains important, but please go read Antifragile, Black Swan or Fooled by Randomness instead. They will give you everything you need. This aimless volume, which merely introduces a few new terms to explore again many of his familiar topics, can only be recommended to devoted Taleb fans.
13 people found this helpful
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- Ismail
- 17-05-18
Funny and entertaining
This was my first of the series from Nasim Taleb. It was like listening to the rant of a smart but drunk Uncle. A bit like the American know it all at the party that just needs to listen before he talks.
That being said, it was entertaining and some food for thought. He is an equal opportunities offender. Everyone from Obama to Salafism gets a mention. Lots of personal score settling.
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- Pepe
- 11-05-18
Interesting reading, take it with a grain of salt
Although the author is definetely an intelligent person and the main point of the book is worth understanding, some of the examples -particularly that against Richard Dawkins- have important flaws or are too extreme to be taken without more evidence. This is basically a book about opinions, with no science behind it. Nonetheless, it does have some common sense points that are worth being conscious about.
7 people found this helpful
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- Brian Mc
- 11-12-20
Interesting but much to aggressive
The tone throughout this book is what I heard throughout my time in industry - dog eat dog. Interesting in parts but a generally bad vibe.
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- Cay45
- 16-11-20
It’s like the author keeps repeating
Skin in the game , another statement, skin in the game and so on.
I just didn’t get it.
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- Turcu Ciprian
- 04-09-20
Bad
Barely understood what he was saying, kept jumping from idea to idea and, maybe it’s just me, but after reading 10 other books on audible, this was the worst one.
I don’t recommend it, it’s long and all over the place
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- august year
- 04-08-20
YAWN
Taleb is just ranting and raving about nothing really. No new insight, no solutions, no unique view.... I kept hoping for something to dig my teeth into and get a different perspective but alas the world is full of influential people with more money than talent...Taleb seems to be one of them.
Don't bother with this book. Read a summary somewhere if you're really curious.
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- Michael Doherty
- 16-10-18
Fascinating
Deep thoughts presented with a great deal of insight and humour. So enjoyable listening to someone who doesn’t take himself too seriously yet has the intellect to take on the big issues.
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- Jimbo Jones
- 11-06-18
Knowledgeable and egotistic
I enjoyed this, obviously a knowledgeable guy with occasional insights. His ego shines through, mind. I've read most of his stuff and this is the least focused so maybe start with one of his other titles.
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-02-19
Didn't finish
Author whines about academics, then proceeds to pontificate like an academic ad nauseam. Perhaps I missed the point but like Feynman said, if you cant explain it simply you dont understand it. By that metric the author has no idea what he is talking about.
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- ce moir
- 06-07-19
Too political
What a waste of money? His political leaning leaks through so much. I was expecting so much more from this book. His hatred of expertise is worrying.
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- Ben Preston
- 06-09-18
Enlightening
I love to experience different perspectives and Taleb's perspective is very different to what I was expecting.
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- Márton
- 24-11-20
Great idea. Probably the first hour is enough
The basic idea is great an probability will include in my life philosophy however the second part of the book did not add much value for me.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-09-20
Brilliant book
Such a brilliant book with lots of depth. I’ve listened to it more then 5 times just to fully understand everything with in it and always get something new on each new listen.
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- Anonymous User
- 16-08-20
Eye Opening
I have read 30 hour books with half the content of this one. Marked to re-read
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- Benny Nguyen
- 12-07-19
Pure Treasure!
As usual, NNT is incredibly frank on delivering his opinions. He’s actually even more blunt than usual. Entirely agree with his views, especially with attaching real consequences to people’s roles and actions to incentivise them to act ethically.
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- Steven Haas
- 14-03-19
A great book and an easy listen
This book is full of life's truths and asymmetries not always hidden but often glossed over. As with most books, be prepared to let some things go or consider more broadly, not everything is suggested for rigid interpretation.
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- Amazon Customer
- 26-02-19
truthful picture of real life
Nassim Taleb does not exhibit any fear in writing
precisely because he doesn't need money from books
which makes the books even more enjoyable
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- Enrico Massi
- 10-02-19
Tough one but a good one - very interesting
I like these books as they are challenging to read and listen to. Way of writing and narration need to be digested and you need to be in the mood for it. As always, have learned a lot!