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)

Fooled by Randomness

It’s funny how much of ones life actually can be experienced in a different manner post listening to this book .. a beautifully written book with all the flair of a stoic seasoned trader .. loved it 👍

crude humour, great ideas

great book. iconoclastic humour, with awesome analysis of how randomness affects our lives and the human inability to perceive that influence. criticizes how much we're stuck to causality and how much credit we give to everything. the narrator has a calm relaxing voice. highly reccommended.

Great book and narration

Glad I got the audio version. Probably would have had to look up too many words on the Kindle.

Overall, I came away with a new confidence that I can take into my own investing. I consistently get bounced around in the market and take it personally, then pull back and become a spectator.

Now I'm going to accept the licks that are handed out with the belief that the best and brightest are fighting these same battles. That and trying not to let my successes turn into a portfolio death trap in the inevitable market downturn.

Sometimes it's just luck...

Sometimes it's just luck... Taleb does a great job breaking of explaining that sometimes it is just luck. While there are some great insights and great analogies, the storyline was just slow for me and I had a hard time wanted to push on an finish the book.

Through thinking

I have read most of Nassim’s books and found this one as honest and insightful as the rest.

smart but conceided

A well educated author who loves tooting his own horn, and condescending others, his work is admirable, but he expresses truth about randomness but his character resonates in the book and is a turn off.

very engaging and thoughtful.

The book was very well written and I can see myself reading this book over and over.

great book

help you channel information in chaotic world. and show you how randomness is integral part of society.

Perfect

Nasim Nicholas Taleb is a true thinker.He is a generalist with interests in many fields and applies all these knowledge humbly. But his attidute and general behaviour does not show as such. Do not get fooled by it. He writes his ideas beautifully, but the reader should have some knowledge of philosophy, statistics and investment theory to get his ideas without getting confused or perplexed.He has a depth that you can not find in American thinkers, as they are from a very young culture compared to Nassim who belongs to an ancient culture of Lebanese Christian origin .

it is so good

I know pretty much associate everything with randomness. and in my appreciation of this book, I developed a finest for the narrator. he is so much fun to listen to I have found that he narrates a few of my books. thank you Mr narrator for what you do. you may think what you do is small but it is such a big deal for a person with vision issues and cannot read books like I used to