Fooled by Randomness

The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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 Corp

Critic reviews

"[Taleb is] Wall Street's principal dissident....[ Fooled by Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther's ninety-nine theses were to the Catholic Church." (Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker)
"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)

Masterpiece

Wonderful eye opener and reminder of what life is really all about and how to validate reality

A+ work

Hillarious, dismissive of MBAs, educational. I'd recommend to anyone getting a degree from any academic field.

Profound read on risk and human error

5 of 5 stars.

I’ll start by saying I try to read/reread at least one Taleb book every year. Taleb’s insights on risk and human error are profound yet accessible to the everyday reader. Packed with practical observations, Fooled by Randomness builds the foundation of Taleb’s philosophy which sets the stage for his better known later volumes, the Black Swan and Antifragile. Not to be consumed in a single sitting but over several sessions. Highly recommended and may lead to a paradigm shift in probability thinking and life outlook.

Sean Pratt’s intonations synch perfectly with Taleb’s writing style.

Not bad....

This book had some great points and great chapters but drug on at times. It could have been shorter.

Mandatory

This book is mandatory not only to people involved in wal st. buy anyone that wants to learn more about oneself and improve as business and personal life

Some good points by an insufferable person

As with all of Talebs books, I think: those are some good points, but man, this guy sounds like he would be awful to work with. He literally sounds like the most pompous, self-righteous person I’ve ever seen write a book about themselves. And— those are the things he admits.

In this book the author starts out in the introduction by saying he tried to write this book without external sources. Do with that what you will.

interesting book

An interesting book from a very cocky author. Taleb hits important points. I believe if I had read this book earlier in my life, it could have saved me from some of the mistakes that I made. The book is a must for any trader given that it works like a medicin to desinflate one's ego. Still, I believe that the author overestimates the impact of randomness, but just by making the reader aware of its presence and importance, makes it worthwhile the read!!!!!

Great

Interesting and informative - enjoyed the listen. Good reminder of our tendencies to feel we know more than we do in complex systems.

Excellent

A very insightful book. Explores topics and points I had not previously considered. Not an easy read, but worth it.

Deep

Feels like a long read, great stories and examples through out. Hard to follow all the time, but very enjoyable read at the same time.