Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Nassim Nicholas Talebis a Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, former trader, and risk analyst, whose work focuses on problems of randomness, probability, and uncertainty. His 2007 book The Black Swan was described in a review by the Sunday Times as one of the twelve most influential books since World War II...
NationalityLebanese
ProfessionScientist
CountryLebanon
anxiety citizens use
Economic life should be definancialised. We should learn not to use markets as storehouses of value: they do not harbour the certainties that normal citizens require. Citizens should experience anxiety about their own businesses (which they control), not their investments (which they do not control).
venture payoff humans
The payoff of a human venture is, in general, inversely proportional to what it is expected to be.
mistake errors benefits
It is often the mistakes of others that benefit the rest of us and, sadly, not them ... For the antifragile, harm from errors should be less than the benefits.
theory dangerous dangerous-things
[A] theory is a very dangerous thing to have.
ornaments weakness shows
The weak shows his strength and hides his weaknesses; the magnificent exhibits his weaknesses like ornaments.
wise stupid political
The best test of whether someone is extremely stupid (or extremely wise) is whether financial and political news makes sense to him.
people boundaries categories
Categorizing is necessary for humans, but it becomes pathological when the category is seen as definitive, preventing people from considering the fuzziness of boundaries, let alone revising their categories.
cases remains knows
But it remains the case that you know what is wrong with a lot more confidence than you know what is right.
differences boss ottomans
The difference between slaves in Roman and Ottoman days and today's employees is that slaves did not need to flatter their boss.
pride talent shame
Only in recent history has "working hard" signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura .
sports play looks
What they call "play" (gym, travel, sports) looks like work.
college nuclear-families social
Decomposition, for most, starts when they leave the free, social, and uncorrupted college life for the solitary confinement of professions and nuclear families.
greatness hatred replacements
Greatness starts with the replacement of hatred with polite disdain.
tragedy boring virtue
The tragedy of virtue is that the more obvious, boring, unoriginal, and sermonizing the proverb, the harder it is to implement.