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Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets |  | Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Publisher: Random House
List Price: $28.00
Buy New: $15.01
as of 11/20/2009 11:16 CST details
You Save: $12.99 (46%)
New (34) Used (14) Collectible (1) from $15.01
Seller: zp_books
Rating:  432 reviews
Sales Rank: 3487
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2 Updated
Pages: 368
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 1400067936
Dewey Decimal Number: 123.3
EAN: 9781400067930
ASIN: 1400067936
Publication Date: October 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. Nassim Nicholas Talebveteran trader, renowned risk expert, polymathic scholar, erudite raconteur, and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swanhas written a modern classic that turns on its head what we believe about luck and skill.
This book is about luckor more precisely, about how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skillthe world of tradingFooled by Randomness provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives. Writing in an entertaining narrative style, the author tackles major intellectual issues related to the underestimation of the influence of happenstance on our lives.
The book is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: the baseball legend Yogi Berra; the philosopher of knowledge Karl Popper; the ancient worlds wisest man, Solon; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Odysseus. We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life but falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness.
However, the most recognizable character of all remains unnamedthe lucky fool who happens to be in the right place at the right timehe embodies the survival of the least fit. Such individuals attract devoted followers who believe in their gurus insights and methods. But no one can replicate what is obtained by chance.
Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? It may be impossible to guard ourselves against the vagaries of the goddess Fortuna, but after reading Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared.
Amazon.com Review
If the prescriptions for getting rich that are outlined in books such as The Millionaire Next Door and Rich Dad Poor Dad are successful enough to make the books bestsellers, then one must ask, Why aren't there more millionaires? In Fooled by Randomness, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a professional trader and mathematics professor, examines what randomness means in business and in life and why human beings are so prone to mistake dumb luck for consummate skill. This eccentric and highly personal exploration of the nature of randomness meanders from the court of Croesus and trading rooms in New York and London to Russian roulette, Monte Carlo engines, and the philosophy of Karl Popper. Part of what makes this book so good is Taleb's ability to make seemingly arcane mathematical concepts (at least to this reviewer) entirely relevant in evaluating and understanding everything from the stock market to the success of those millionaires cited in the aforementioned bestsellers. Here's 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. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 432
 Great insight September 28, 2009
C-diddy (California)
Taleb changed the way I thought about skill and luck. The book was not made to prove things one way or the other but to get you to think. Don't take anyones supposed skill to your bank. You need to be aware of the risk of what you are purchasing. This book applies not only to investing but to life in general. The book is easy and fun to read.
Anecdotes and science September 17, 2009
Helge Ogrim (Norway)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Found the book strangely absorbing and innovative. Myself, I have very little knowledge of things mathematical or statistical, but a rather strong interest in them. Nassim Taleb delivers a spirited defence of skepticism, which I always like. His examples from the world of financial trading (and gaming) are entertaining and probably(!) illustrative, as are his anectodes from other fields of life and his obviously very extensive reading.
I should have liked to read a non-polemical discussion of his thesis. But it would have to be written in the same and wonderfully popular and humorous vein that runs thru this fine book.
 some interesting provocative ideas but the book is quite bad September 10, 2009
Victor Melamed (CA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
There are some interesting ideas in the book. That's why I would give it 2 stars and not 1.
Other than that the style is quite bad (IMHO of course) but the one biggest problem for me is that
the author lacks even a single smallest drop of humility. Most of the book is about how smart
the author is and how stupid everybody else is. I did not need all that.
The message of the book if there was any is lost in all this bragging.
Fooled by Ramdomness September 4, 2009
Peter G. Maclean
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A book that all of the overpaid egomaniacs on Wall Street will hate. Answers to the questions about what role luck plays in our financial lives. A must read before you overpay for financial advise.
Interesting Content in an Easy-To-Read style August 30, 2009
Brian P. Bernard
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The topics are very engaging, and the author's style is very verbal (write's the way people talk). Highly recommended.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 432
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