Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Black Swan: Second Edition
The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Fragility" | Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Black Swan is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Talebs landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we dont understand. The other books in the series are Fooled by Randomness, Antifragile, Skin in the Game, and The Bed of Procrustes. A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we dont know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the impossible. For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. In this revelatory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we dont know, and this second edition features a new philosophical and empirical essay, On Robustness and Fragility, which offers tools to navigate and exploit a Black Swan world. Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. The Black Swan is a landmark bookitself a black swan. Praise for Nassim Nicholas Taleb The most prophetic voice of all.GQ Praise for The Black Swan [A book] that altered modern thinking.The Times (London) A masterpiece.Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired, author of The Long Tail Idiosyncratically brilliant.Niall Ferguson, Los Angeles Times The Black Swan changed my view of how the world works.Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate [Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne. . . . We eagerly romp with him through the follies of confirmation bias [and] narrative fallacy.The Wall Street Journal Hugely enjoyablecompelling . . . easy to dip into.Financial Times Engaging . . . The Black Swan has appealing cheek and admirable ambition.The New York Times Book Review
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
DcSunshine
Mehso-so

I liked it but it‘s dense and difficult. In some ways it felt it had one really good point and was dragging it out. That idea, however, is fascinating. I told everyone I was reading this book simply to try and have someone to discuss it with - it would have enhanced this experience

1 like1 stack add
blurb
Eggs
post image
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🖤📚🤍 3y
64 likes1 comment
review
janeycanuck
post image
Mehso-so

While this was much more accessible than I expected, it wasn‘t quite what I wanted. It was a lot of succinct information about a lot of topics, I was looking for more depth on some of the black swan events and the fallout from them. Penny also seems to feel it wasn‘t quite worth her attention.

Book 9 for #15books15weeks

29 likes1 stack add
quote
violetmoon
post image

blurb
Thndrstd
post image

I‘m sure many of you have already seen this but this seems like the perfect place to put this multiple times:

The value of owning more books than you can read: https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/do-i-own-too-many-books

Crazeedi Great photo of awesome looking books! I'd love to browse!❤️ 5y
Thndrstd @Crazeedi thanks. I wish I could take credit but it‘s from the article 5y
38 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
RainerT
Mehso-so

Fascinating intellectual journey (bit yet finished). However what are the consequences for our daily living?

review
RamsFan1963
post image
Bailedbailed

I was interested in the subject matter, but Taleb's writing style turned me off almost from page one. If you're interested in probability, luck and the power of randomness, I'd recommend The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow. It's more entertaining and easier to understand.

blurb
Whodunit85
post image

The positivity we all need in our lives today. Especially with that B&N sale still happening.

https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/why-you-should-stop-feeling-bad-about-all-t...

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
Augustdana I am literally surrounded by my books because I decided today would be a good day to try and organize my shelves. This is just the kind of motivation I need 🙃🙃🙃 6y
104 likes2 comments
blurb
Eggs
post image
Thestar1685 Is that book on Freud and Jung any good? I‘m trying to get a good list of psychology books. Ty 6y
Eggs Yes. I believe both Jung and Adler were followers of Freud, then authored their own theories. Been a while since I studied them 6y
90 likes2 comments
quote
Jgotham
post image

Yassss 👇🏽

blurb
Jgotham
post image

I wasn‘t impressed with my last library book so today I‘m starting with “The Black Swan” to help get me out of my work slump

blurb
silentrequiem
post image

This seemed of interest to many of my fellow book-hoarding Littens!

https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/why-you-should-stop-feeling-bad-about-all-t...

Purrfectpages That‘s me! 7y
mrozzz Hehe I like this.... 7y
silentrequiem @mrozzz I'm using this as an excuse to buy more books. 😁 7y
mjdowens Need to send this article to my husband! 7y
30 likes4 comments
review
taning
Pickpick

Great read, good to think differently and not just follow the crowd

review
TindraTieren
Pickpick

I came to this book after it being mentioned in a conference talk. I am quite glad I did. Like, I should probably grab a print version to better use as reference and mark up and stuff, because referencing audiobooks sucks.

quote
GoneFishing

I disagree with the followers of Marx and those of Adam Smith: the reason free markets work is because they allow people to be lucky, thanks to aggressive trial and error, not by giving rewards or "incentives" for skill.

33 likes2 stack adds
blurb
LauraJ
post image

This is the only book that I #DNF for my book club in over five years. I got so tired of the author going off on tangents about himself. #readjanuary

45 likes1 stack add
blurb
anushareflects
post image

This intriguing piece was recommended to me during a seminar on managing risk. Immensely curious to read more! TBR.

5 likes2 stack adds