Fooled by Randomness

Nassim Nicholas Taleb spent two decades as a risk taker before becoming a full-time essayist and scholar focusing on practical and philosophical problems with chance, luck, and probability. His focus in on how different systems handle disorder.He now spends most of his time in the intense seclusion of his study, or as a flâneur meditating in cafés. In addition to his life as a trader he spend several years as an academic researcher ( Distinguished Professor at New York University's School of Engineering, Dean's Professor at U. Mass Amherst).He is the author of the Incerto (latin for uncertainty), accessible in any order (Antifragile, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, and Fooled by Randomness) plus a freely available technical version, Silent Risk. Taleb has also published close to 55 academic and scholarly papers as a backup, technical footnotes to the Incerto in topics ranging from Statistical Physics to International affairs. The Incerto has more than 150 translations in 39 languages.Taleb believes that prizes, honorary degrees, awards, and ceremonialism debase knowledge by turning it into a spectator sport.""Imagine someone with the erudition of Pico de la Mirandola, the skepticism of Montaigne, solid mathematical training, a restless globetrotter, polyglot, enjoyer of fine wines, specialist of financial derivatives, irrepressible reader, and irascible to the point of readily slapping a disciple." La Tribune (Paris)A giant of Mediterranean thought ... Now the hottest thinker in the world", London Times"The most prophetic voice of all" GQ

出版者:Penguin

作者:Nassim Nicholas Taleb

页数:316

出版时间:2007-3-29

价格:GBP 6.99

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780141032740

图书标签:金融思维经济投资randomness思维工具financeeconomics

Fooled by Randomness is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are The Black Swan, Antifragile, Skin in the Game, and The Bed of Procrustes.

Fooled by Randomness is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. Nassim Nicholas Taleb–veteran trader, renowned risk expert, polymathic scholar, erudite raconteur, and New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swan–has written a modern classic that turns on its head what we believe about luck and skill.

This book is about luck–or 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 skill–the world of trading–Fooled 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 world’s 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 unnamed–the lucky fool who happens to be in the right place at the right time–he embodies 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 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.

Named by Fortune One of the Smartest Books of All Time

A Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year

读后感

我们不能因为眼前的享乐而狂妄自大，或者赞美稍纵即逝的幸福快乐。世事难料，未来变幻莫测。只有承蒙上苍垂帘从此能幸福以终的人，我们才能称之为幸福快乐。 P26 拒斥历史（denigration of history）：因为赌徒、投资人、决策者总是觉得，发生在别人身上的事情，不见得会发生...  

给四星是因为作者所推崇的“科学的可证伪性”，那一星的空白权当是尊重作者本意使之“科学化”了。还是Robert Shiller的金融市场课的参考书目。课听到一半倒是把书搜出来一口气一个通宵给看完了。颠覆啊！作者不相信投资组合那套，评价巴菲特的简朴作风“毫无必要”。这里探讨...  

《随机致富的傻瓜》总体印象 这本书本来没有打算开始看的，不过周日去书店捧了一堆书回来路上老婆有点事情，我做在路边台阶上随手拿本书来翻看，当时又不能勾画东西，只好找本相对简单的，结果就拿到了这本。 这本书基本与致富无关，唯一引入这个词汇，只不过是因为作者是从事...  

给四星是因为作者所推崇的“科学的可证伪性”，那一星的空白权当是尊重作者本意使之“科学化”了。还是Robert Shiller的金融市场课的参考书目。课听到一半倒是把书搜出来一口气一个通宵给看完了。颠覆啊！作者不相信投资组合那套，评价巴菲特的简朴作风“毫无必要”。这里探讨...  

用户评价

don't be predictable, sometimes randomness yields a comfort

Taleb善于思考，不善于写作。他的爱好还包括deadlift。

整本书就是絮絮叨叨地在讲什么是期望。。。

Thought-provoking ideas on probability and human dealings with randomness. In the end the key message could be: (a) Do not harbour any supersititious confidence/pure supersition about the capability of yourself or that of any extremely successful people, and (b) hope for the best, work to the hardest and prepare for the worst.

Just listen while shaken by emotion but not with the coward's imploration and complaints.