Fooled by Randomness
The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
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Fooled by Randomness
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Narrated by:
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Sean Pratt
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Written by:
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Nassim Nicholas Taleb
About this listen
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 CorpCritic Reviews
"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
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sunil L K
- 27-12-23
Fooled by the reviews
The author is everywhere. Very difficult to understand what is the author trying to convey, because the message changes randomly as the book progresses.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Gunjan Juyal
- 15-02-19
Great storytelling, good outline,not as much depth
Really enjoyed this book. a fun, smooth read.
The storytelling and narrative is great. The author gives a good outline of what is wrong with our decision making framework, hints at reasons behind the same, exemplifies it.
Although some techniques are mentioned on bypassing those impulses yet there is much to be desired in terms of depth. In the end I'm afraid this may end up being a book whose summary is much needed and remembered, but the details are forgotten like those self-help books that the author rightly derided.
But I did end up taking away many concepts and writers I'd like to read up on. Seneca the stoic, Mandelbrot's mathematics, Popper and the general idea of probability-vs-risk and how the former is a misfit in today's economic estimation.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Salil kumar
- 29-01-24
Compelling introduction to the book and narrative around it.
The author appears to have some thoughts & ideas for which he offered little explanation. Not sure I could really follow him.
Also there is no connectivity in chapters.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rajat
- 23-11-18
An engaging perspective
The book through its many short narratives within each chapter gives a remarkably different but logical perspective on life, events around and on people's behaviour. Light shed on impact of randomness on success and black swan on failure is thought provoking
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- dayitva
- 25-05-20
Insightful for a newbie investor.
Enjoyed the book. Though new to some sincere reading, found my ideas of happiness reinforced by his. Kind of a good self help book actually.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 17-12-24
New perspective on randomness
its like a different view point to most of the self help books. How randomness can be misinterpreted as success. I would have expected a little more on how probability can be used to our advantage.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Placeholder
- 13-05-23
unputdownable and informative
author is a great story teller and narrates somehow missed incidents in a spellbinding style of prose interspersed with data, slicing and dicing. Though in principle I may agree with his analytics and deductions but in practice I feel it's always a little bias, a small deviation from deductive logic that brings interesting challenges to life and makes it worth living rather than pure scientific approach to decision making. Still, we can't take away the interesting topic and ensuing analytics presented very well in this book in simple easy to understand language. Kudos.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pratyusha
- 15-07-24
An MBA must read!
As a student of statistics and an MBA this book made me smile, laugh out loud and be offended all in the same sentence sometimes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paddu
- 22-11-24
Randomly certian
Be fooled but aware. Message driven home despite apparent cerainty of culture and language. Must listen again.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Koushik Suresh
- 16-08-22
Pessimistic but none the less enlightening.
Excellent story teller
I agree with the author in various levels when he slices layers and layers of bias, which is really intriguing and enlightening.
But I for one still believe in mind moving mountains and pure randomness. Thus I disagree with him on most part of the book.
Kodus to conclusions though. I found myself concurring with him.
Definitely a must read.
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1 person found this helpful