false 38315 15 If the prescriptions for getting rich that are outlined in books such as <I>The Millionaire Next Door</I> and <I>Rich Dad Poor Dad</I> are successful enough to make the books bestsellers, then one must ask, Why aren't there more millionaires? In <I>Fooled by Randomness</I>, 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. <I>--Harry C. Edwards</I> 3119175 2001 Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets total:1138|5:354|4:458|3:230|2:73|1:23| 1138 4461 2063 218 4 13 false false Tue Nov 18 01:33:28 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 18 23:49:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 3 false false Mon Sep 03 15:34:41 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 15:16:55 -0700 2007 Fooled by Randomness is all over the first part of this statement, but apparently doesn’t consider it part of his job as an iconoclast to say anything about the second. Taleb goes to great ...more...]]> 3 3 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 25 22:18:22 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 25 23:04:30 -0700 2007
Taleb is a stock market trader. As a trader, he believes that there is no way in general to predict the stock m...more...]]> 5 3 false false Wed Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 19:14:20 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 16:02:38 -0800 2008 2 ...more...]]> 3 3 false false Fri Dec 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 16:23:47 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 01 11:04:00 -0800 2009
I think the powerful ideas could have been condensed down to a New Yorker length article:
1. We tend to see the "survivors"; by hiding those who have failed, our understanding of many s...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Mar 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 13:59:22 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 15:06:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 13:08:53 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 13:20:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 14 07:43:05 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 14 07:52:02 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue May 22 17:47:52 -0700 2007 Sun Mar 02 08:07:06 -0800 2008
Here is ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed May 09 21:38:59 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 16:50:30 -0700 2007
...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 05 00:35:30 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 00:35:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 08 09:18:07 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 06:45:54 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 09:18:07 -0700 2009
The book was good--mostly a trader's view on the ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 17:57:44 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 13:35:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 21:42:51 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 21:44:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Dec 05 10:56:50 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 08:49:59 -0800 2008 Taleb is the Dean's Professor in the Sciences of Uncertainty at the Isenberg School of M...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 11:25:40 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 11:27:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 16 15:00:43 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 15:06:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 17 22:22:53 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 22:29:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Feb 18 09:22:05 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 09:22:05 -0800 2009
and the thing about how we tend to think that what has happened was the more likely or the predestined or whatever choice; forgetting that there were several other equally and/or more likely outcomes, and the difference may have been random. T...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Jul 03 18:27:20 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 03 19:10:02 -0700 2007