The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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Book Summary Information
Author: Nassim Nicholas TalebEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-17
ISBN: 1400063515
Number of pages: 366
Publisher: Random House
Book Reviews of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Book Review: A fine antidote to gullibility
Summary: 5 Stars
According to critic Harold Bloom, Hamlet's predicament is not "that he thinks too much" but rather that "he thinks too well," being ultimately "unable to rest in illusions of any kind." The same could be said for philosopher, essayist and trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who finds something rotten in misguided yet supremely confident investment gurus, traders, hedge fund managers, Wall Street bankers, M.B.A.s, CEOs, Nobel-winning economists and others who claim that they can predict the future and explain the past. Like everyone else, says Taleb, these so-called "experts" fail to appreciate "black swans": highly consequential but unlikely events that render predictions and standard explanations worse than worthless. Taleb's style is personal and literary, but his heterodox insights are rigorous (if sometimes jolted by authorial filigree). This combination makes for a thrilling, disturbing, contentious and unforgettable book on chance and randomness. While Taleb offers strong medicine some readers may find too bitter at times, we prescribe it to anyone who wants a powerful inoculation against gullibility.
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