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  • Fooled by Randomness

  • The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
  • By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
  • Narrated by: Sean Pratt
  • Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (762 ratings)
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Fooled by Randomness cover art

Fooled by Randomness

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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Summary

This audiobook is about luck, or more precisely, how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. It is already a landmark work and its title has entered our vocabulary. In its second edition, Fooled by Randomness is now a cornerstone for anyone interested in random outcomes.

Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill, the world of trading, this audiobook is a captivating insight into one of the least understood factors of all our lives. In an entertaining narrative style, the author succeeds in tackling three major intellectual issues: the problem of induction, the survivorship biases, and our genetic unfitness to the modern word. Taleb uses stories and anecdotes to illustrate our overestimation of causality and the heuristics that make us view the world as far more explainable than it actually is.

The audiobook is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: Yogi Berra, the baseball legend; Karl Popper, the philosopher of knowledge; Solon, the ancient world's wisest man; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Ulysses. We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life, but who also falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness.

But the most recognizable character remains unnamed, the lucky fool in the right place at the right time - the embodiment of 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 through chance.

It may be impossible to guard against the vagaries of the Goddess Fortuna, but after listening to Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared.

©2004 Nassim Nicholas Taleb (P)2008 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"[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)
"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." (Amazon.com)

What listeners say about Fooled by Randomness

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Self righteous rambling

While the book may read well this unfortunately doesn't translate into a good audiobook. It comes across as very self righteous as he sneers at the mere mortals who don't appreciate randomness. Furthermore this book lacks any kind of structure and seems to be a collection of thoughts as they've come into the author's head. I was very disappointed

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10 people found this helpful

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Excellent book, but patience is required

This book (and much of Taleb’s writing) attract an unnecessary amount of negative backlash. Yes, his books can often steer into being the ramblings of someone socially awkward, with a chip on their shoulder - but don’t let this distraction put you off reading this book.

I found the narration to be okay - though somewhat dry. The editing of this book is also bizarre (it feels like there has been no editing), quite often themes are mentioned out of nowhere, not expanded upon, and then the subject will change before you understand why.

To enjoy Taleb’s style of writing, you should treat it the same as having a long conversation with a friend after a few too many drinks.

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5 people found this helpful

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Blinded by Randomness

I'll try and restrain myself best I can. This guy has serious delusions of eloquence and should not be an author. I am surprised that the excellent narrator actually managed to get through the book without vomiting from the author's gross verbosity. See, I can also use smart sounding needlessly lengthy sentences to just basically say 'this book was terrible'. Notice how I restrained from using a curse word because I have some sort of appreciation of my potential audience reading this review.... unlike the author's appreciation for his audience. Sadly the poor review is not only for the incoherency of the author but also the content he is trying to convey. I bought this book to explore the other side of the argument for trading through technical analysis. This book has only served to strengthen my belief in that method of trading. He is utterly blinded by his theory of randomness which he completely fails to portray.

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3 people found this helpful

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the most happy arrogant man

a 'story', more an experienced opinion than a thorough argument. There are numerous interesting points raised throught the book. but many of them seem to serve this point; that the 'hords' get rich by chance. and 'the well bred' stay alittle rich by safe investments. With the barely unsaid being, he, the writer, is of value dispite how wealthy people in his life have made him feel.

worth the read, if you after a pithy introduction to math and probability.

but dispite my distaste to his perpective, I appricate some of his insight.

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The worst book I have ever had

What I have learned from this book:
1) To aviod unfair trails in courts they should be based on probability not the evidence.
2) The author hates journalists
3) All psychologists and neuroscientists are wrong
4) Research can be based on hypothesis not the evidence
5) and the best one
RUSSIAN LAW IS COMPLICATED AND PROOF OF THAT ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR? IT IS DIFFICULT TO SPEAK WITH RUSSIAN LAWYERS DUE TO THEIR FOREIGN ACCENT AND VODKA SMELLING BREATHS!!! (the author didn't clariffy if that also applies if the conversation is in their native Russian)

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Pseudo intellectualism

Nassim attempts to criticise other people in his line of work for “scientism” but he himself advocates his idea through this very method. The book at its highest contains high school level knowledge and at its lowest reads like the ranting of a bitter employee jealous that his coworkers are getting ahead of him and waiting for them to fall.

There is very little “rigor” that the author espoused in this book aside from an attempt to cherry pick events from unrelated topics to sell his brand of pseudoscience.

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Traders must adapt to changes in the market

Currently half way through chapter 7 of 8. The author goes on and on telling you trading success is largely down to luck by doing the right thing at the right time, until the market changes causing the trader to eventually blow. I think he could have explained this entire book in one chapter.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent but the hype is a bit much.

Such a massively acclaimed book, and it is very good, but I suppose it didn't quite meet its potentially unmeetable expectations.

Nevertheless, there is a core set of important learnings gained from going through the book.

Very unique style. Feels disjointed and random until something suddenly clicks. Nice change of pace.

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Not Much Useful for Value Investors

The only thing that could be useful in this book for value investors is its emphasis of trying to estimate the probability of future (independent of the past) expectations of the prospective security.

In my opinion, it's a waste of time and money to buy this book for value investors. There are much better books, such as Invest Like a Guru, that deliver high-quality content, both theoretical and practical.

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Oh come on.

Nothing new. Some interesting perspectives, but having listened to it, I feel I’ve been conned. One great truth poorly illustrated.

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