Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets Audiobook

" It is an amazing feeling when you uncover something that was in the area of "what you don’t know that you don’t know". The same feeling will capture you several times when you read "listen" to this fascinating book. Taleb, with his intellectual and thought provoking style, takes you into rooms you have never thought they exist. At the end, you will get in love with Randomness around us and see the beauty in it "

" Extremely interesting topic but the presentation left a lot to be desired in my opinion. The author's writing style seemed wandering and haphazard. Each time I felt he was beginning to convey an interesting insight he'd abruptly end his treatment of the subject or veer off onto a tangent. Additionally, the book's focus on philosophy and the author's constant name dropping of obscure literary figures became tiresome. It struck me as a poorly organized stream of consciousness dump / "look at how cultured I am" piece. To be fair, I do believe this may have been the author's intention to some degree. In the end, there were just enough interesting anecdotes, descriptions of common biases, and descriptions of common logical flaws to hold my attention but they could have been condensed and reorganized into a much more enjoyable book of about 1/3 the length. "

" Very good... and very challenging. "

" Good. It's true that we tend to take credit for things that are pure luck, and proceed with our lives as if we know what we're doing "

" Taleb has some good points, but you've got to wade through 20 meaningless points to find them. If you don't have the time or patience to read Taleb's rants and non-sequiturs, just ask someone who's read it to give you the highlights. "

" This is a great primer on critical thinking and understanding of logical fallacies, dressed-up as a story about investing and markets. I'd thoroughly recommend it as a Trojan horse for teaching people about not letting illogical thinking foil their hard work. "

" Read this book cover to cover while soaking in a tub in a Kyoto hotel! "

" Long winded, opinionated and still a great read. "

" Such an arrogant bastard, but has fundamentally influenced the way I think about asset prices. "

" The author is an opinionated, arrogant, pompous ass, but you can't work in financial markets without having read this book. "

" Doesn't even attempt any semblance of scientific rigour, but throws together a collection of interesting counterintuitive ideas and references that seem to make sense. Definitely worth following up on, but on the other hand pretty useless if not followed up on. "

" nicely written, but a bit cocky author "

" An easy read...arguments are not well though out or researched though. "

" This is by far the most captivating book I've read in years. "

" A challenging book to read, but worth the effort. Will make you think about how you invest and how you make decisions in general. "

" A nice read from Nassim Taleb. "

" I'm reading this second time, as a warmup for Taleb's new book "Antifragile". The first reading in 2008 was life changing, gotta say. "

" I read this over the summer before the world ended in September. Good thing I learned a lot. "

" there was some interesting info in this book. not sure if it is the author or the writing style but i was not a fan of this book. "

" an interestIng discovery @ 288 balestIer last year whilst staYing over with you. it's a must read on a raNdom walk dOwn wall street. "

" Loved it. Similar to another book by NNT, "Black Swan", probabilities are discussed as they apply to real life, specifically in stock markets but applicable to rest of the world. A must read. "

" An interesting read. There quite a few mythbusters challenging conventional thinking. Explains the rationality behind markets and how one should not get carried away by high profile investors. <br/>Gives good examples of &quot;black swan scenarios&quot;. "

" Excellent book by a great thinker. Unless we learn to anticipate random events probablistically, and accept that some things cannot be controlled or predicted, we are doomed to be victims of the laws of chance. A bigger book philosophically than to which the title alludes. "

" If find his tone refreshingly hilarious, and his introduction to me of Tversky and Kahneman alone justifies the price of admission. <br/><br/>Some of the reviewers write that Taleb despises wealth. He doesn't. He despises pompous ostentation. "

" A very different book, challenges one's thinking "

" Another miss by Taleb. Again, the book starts of promising but fails to deliver. It merely skims interesting topics and bogs down in childish examples and superfluous references to non-relevant thinkers and philosophers. <br/> <br/>One star. <br/> <br/>Oh, he mentions Popper, ok another star. "

" Loved reading how fellow traders &quot;blew up&quot;'. Very conversational read. "

" Taleb is very up-front in the opening that this book is little more than a personal essay. I still would have preferred more depth.<br/><br/>my favorite quote: &quot;I was at the age when one felt like one needed to read everything, which prevented one from making contemplative stops.&quot; "

" Important to be aware of the role randomness can play and not to over ascribe things.<br/>Over reliance on apparent trend/evidence also leads to underpricing of contrarian positions, sometimes "

" Absolutely Brilliant, a must read. "