Nassim Taleb is the author of the INCERTO a philosophical and practical essay on uncertainty that comprises 5 books: "Skin In the Game", "Antifragile", "The Black Swan", "Fooled by Randomness", and "The Bed of Procrustes".
Our world is full of chance and the unknown and the broader canvas of Taleb's work is all about alerting us to the level of uncertainty and unpredictability of life whilst offering us practical ideas and strategies to enable us to survive and even prosper in these conditions.
He teaches us how to avoid crossing the street blindfolded as he urges us to follow the main rule of living with uncertainty:
The intellectual establishment, which includes the influential news media, rewarded him by declaring him one of the most important thinkers in the world.
"The new sage. The trader turned author has emerged as the guru of the global Financial meltdown. Not only is he riding high in the bestseller lists, his theory of black swan events has become the most seductive guide to our uncertain times."
The Observer
"A giant of Mediterranean thought. Now the hottest thinker in the world"
London Times
"Taleb not only had an explanation for [the crisis], he saw it coming"
The New York Times
"Now hailed as a seer"
The Economist
Taleb is rude and arrogant in his criticisms of those who disagree with him and he indulges in loud and abrasive slanging matches with his opponents on twitter.
He has been described as an intellectual asset gone rogue:
"...over the years it has become evident that he wishes to take down the entire intellectual world, or at least that part which he does not agree with or which has slighted him in some way.
He
has said repeatedly that professionals like economists, historians and
psychologists are frauds. And columnists too. Taleb finds the word
“scientist" in “social scientist" hilarious.
Only Sam Harris, a neuroscientist and a popular author and podcaster,
whom Taleb once called an “imposter", has demonstrated the ability to
match Taleb’s venom:
“This guy is just insufferable. I’ve actually never witnessed a marriage of incompetence and confidence so fully and grotesquely consummated in the mind of a person with a public platform."
When commenting on this in a public address to Google employees Nasim Taleb said that that this is his way of putting his skin in the game and that if those he insults don't like it they can sue him.
Nassim Taleb:
Nassim Taleb:
Nassim Taleb:
Nassim Taleb:
The
primary purpose of this site is to show you how to cope in tough times, and to
provide you with the tools to do this successfully. The
way we do this is by adopting a balanced approach and providing the
"toolkit" of information and resources to enable you to do this. I
call this approach the "The Balanced Toolkit". In
my view, Nassim Taleb’s books have, for the non-statistically trained lay person
such as myself, introduced a whole new dimension to understanding life and
added more tools to be included in our toolkit. My
single biggest takeaway is that I need to learn more about statistics and basic
mathematics! The
following is a cross-section of key points that have had impact on me. The
selection of these points is entirely subjective and I do recommend that you
read and familiarise yourself with the work of Nassim Taleb and make your own
list. Key
Points To Take Away
General
Observations Further Reading: Return from "Nassim Taleb" to: Inspirational PeopleNassim Taleb - Conclusions
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