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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 (313 ratings)

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Fooled by Randomness

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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Publisher's 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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Great book BUT...

I really enjoyed this book, but unfortunately the chapters are not in the correct order on Audible.
The Audible recoding start around chapter 4, goes through to the end of the book and then starts the beginning of the book.

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8 people found this helpful

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Arrogance & Interest

The supreme arrogance of NNT in this audiobook is nauseating but the content is very interesting.

The recording is great quality but the chapter breakdown is poor (long silences).

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Toi much rambling

Some good thoughts here and there, but his style is too rambling and he puts others down too much. A book written by a person who likes to be smarter than everybody else.

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3 people found this helpful

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Great book

Any additional comments?

Some great advice's.
The narrator was easy to listen to; personally i found that it was better on 1.25x speed.

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1 person found this helpful

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best audio book i use for motivation !

I perhaps admire taleb a bit more than others. i like his honesty , polymath view of world , mainly from philosophy maths .. a joy to listen over and over again

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1 person found this helpful

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Great perspective

I think more people need to understand that value in understanding randomness, luck and probability

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Prakash mallick review

Nnt is one best writers in history. Probably a Lot of people don’t like it and criticise him but it is what it is! The truth.

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Still good

Good information on the way of the world. Hard to follow at times and does need to be re-listened too several times to grasp the ideas. Overall good

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Trading Jesus

Someone alot smarter than me told me to read this book. I'm so glad I did. I haven't blown up trading but have come so close. I would have repeated the same mistakes if not for this books remarkable perspective and how applicable his insights here are to other areas of life. I have never heard a perspective like this before and this would be one person if you could have dinner and learn from...he's gone to the top of my dream dinner list...

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95% confidence level value

subject yourself to probability..willingly. ironically there is a word minimum required for review..I will listen to this regularly

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