Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
by: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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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
Product Description:
“[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
Finally in paperback, the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about the markets and the world.This book is about luck: more precisely how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences.
Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of business–Fooled by Randomness is an irreverent, iconoclastic, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining exploration of one of the least understood forces in all of our lives.
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
Product Description:
“[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
Finally in paperback, the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about the markets and the world.This book is about luck: more precisely how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences.
Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of business–Fooled by Randomness is an irreverent, iconoclastic, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining exploration of one of the least understood forces in all of our lives.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Its All Chance
This great book deals with the role of chance, luck and probability in life.We all grow up being taught that hard work equals success.Taleb shatters this myth, which many people will find unsettling.
We have all seen many people who work physically hard jobs, be they personal relations or someone you see in passing.How many of these people slave their life away for no pay?On the flip side, how many people have we known or come across making millions for some work done on a ... Read More
Rating: 
- Wanted to enjoy it, but failed
I love ideas that force you to examine old things in new ways.And this book promises to offer a powerful such perspective: to endow you with a greater consciousness of the sea of randomness that surrounding the supposed determinism of life when viewed "in hindsight".It even delivers on this promise to a slight extent.
What caused me to stop reading is that by and large the book read like a rambling mess.A precious few insights bobbing in a sea of words and references I couldn't ... Read More
Rating: - Wall Street meets Levant
To say the least an unorthodox book, filledwith musings, life lessons and philosophy of the author and one central theme about probabilistic events and how they are perceived and misinterpreted by even well trained professionals.
If Mr. Taleb had stuck to his original thesis instead of branching out needlessly and had used the services of a professional editor, it would have made a more pleasant but much shorter read.Yes, there is also way too much of Mr. Taleb in the book, obviously ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent points on all fronts - even if a little haughty
If you are an economist, financial analyst or MBA you will probably feel insulted by Taleb at least once every 10 pages or so.But Taleb makes a point and makes it well.A lot of analysis is no better than astrology.People see patterns even where there are none.
And its about time someone really exposed the whole hoax with the "Nobel" prize for economics (It's really the Royal Bank of Sweden Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize, not created by the original Nobel foundation).For all its psuedo ... Read More
Rating: - Good stuff
Interesting reading.I enjoyed Taleb's subtle, dry humor.I haven't read The Black Swan yet, but will likely read it as well.
- Its All ChanceThis great book deals with the role of chance, luck and probability in life.We all grow up being taught that hard work equals success.Taleb shatters this myth, which many people will find unsettling.
We have all seen many people who work physically hard jobs, be they personal relations or someone you see in passing.How many of these people slave their life away for no pay?On the flip side, how many people have we known or come across making millions for some work done on a ... Read More
- Wanted to enjoy it, but failedI love ideas that force you to examine old things in new ways.And this book promises to offer a powerful such perspective: to endow you with a greater consciousness of the sea of randomness that surrounding the supposed determinism of life when viewed "in hindsight".It even delivers on this promise to a slight extent.
What caused me to stop reading is that by and large the book read like a rambling mess.A precious few insights bobbing in a sea of words and references I couldn't ... Read More
- Wall Street meets LevantTo say the least an unorthodox book, filledwith musings, life lessons and philosophy of the author and one central theme about probabilistic events and how they are perceived and misinterpreted by even well trained professionals.
If Mr. Taleb had stuck to his original thesis instead of branching out needlessly and had used the services of a professional editor, it would have made a more pleasant but much shorter read.Yes, there is also way too much of Mr. Taleb in the book, obviously ... Read More
- Excellent points on all fronts - even if a little haughtyIf you are an economist, financial analyst or MBA you will probably feel insulted by Taleb at least once every 10 pages or so.But Taleb makes a point and makes it well.A lot of analysis is no better than astrology.People see patterns even where there are none.
And its about time someone really exposed the whole hoax with the "Nobel" prize for economics (It's really the Royal Bank of Sweden Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize, not created by the original Nobel foundation).For all its psuedo ... Read More
- Good stuffInteresting reading.I enjoyed Taleb's subtle, dry humor.I haven't read The Black Swan yet, but will likely read it as well.
