| Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets | 
 enlarge | Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 217
Media: Paperback
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0141031484
EAN: 9780141031484
ASIN: 0141031484
Publication Date: May 3, 2007
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Overrated September 20, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is surely one of the most overrated popular science books of recent years. Taleb has become a media darling (particularly in the business press) because few journalists there realise that little of what he writes is new or original. And the tone throughout is irritating and patronising. For a much better treatment of many of the same topics, by a humbler and more readable author, buy John Allen Paulos "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" (if it's still in print).
Not bad, but not impressive August 25, 2008
If you nkow the basics of statistics, you'll find nothing new and amazing in this book. However it is a time passing reading and gives the opportunity to remind you of the things you normally attribute to ability and skill. Sometime we tend to overstimate people. I think it is well worth the money of a paperback. One star less for no new discovery and one star less because he considers himself the only one enlightened.
is there a thesis here? July 16, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Can someone please tell me what the thesis of this book is? If so, is it something other than "Gee, sometimes really surpriving things happen"? Thanks.
 Best read so far this year! July 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The art of the sustained polemic is not dead! In an age where bland agreement with the current fad is 'in', Nicholas Taleb has written a book that not only takes apart the pretensions of the market traders and other would-be oracles, but also reintroduces robustness into debate.
Some people won't like the style, of course. That's sad, because they will also be missing a very informative book. It really does tell you a lot about randomness in life, what it means, and possible strategies for dealing with it.
As a computer programmer I was particularly struck by the discussion of how easy it is to mistake noise for signal by looking at phenomena at the wrong scale. That's just a small part of the discussion though, others will find nuggets relating to their own experience as they read through the book.
I liked this book. I liked the irreverence - arrogance even - with which Taleb dispatches his enemies, and turns 'common sense' upside down.
Highly recommended
 A superficial guide to randomness June 4, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was looking forward to this book. The topic seemed interesting and the reviews I read were good. It turned out to have been a poor choice. Talking of poor choices Taleb's method is to create an example of where people make a poor choice due to a misunderstanding of basic statistics and philosophy of science. He then continues at length to show why he is perceptive enough to realise why they are wrong with some basic statistics and rudimentary philosophy. His problems are artificial, and I can't believe that many people with a basic grasp of reality would get them wrong in the first place.
Here is a typical example quoted from his book: "What has more value?
(a) a contract that pays you $1 million if the stock market goes down 10% on any given day in the next year; (b)a contract that pays you $1 million if the stock market goes down 10% on any given day in the next year due to a terrorist act. I expect most people to select (b)."
Taleb must hang out with some not to bright people if they go for (b). So if you have an IQ greater than 70 and answered (a) I would advise giving this book a miss. If you answered(b)then you probably need all the help you can get, so you might as well buy the book.
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