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
policy-making anxiety relief
Forecasting by bureaucrats tends to be used for anxiety relief rather than for adequate policy making.
destiny risk cash
It was obvious that their profits were simply cash borrowed from destiny with some random payback time.
return portfolios investing
When an investor focuses on short-term investments, he or she is observing the variability of the portfolio, not the returns - in short, being fooled by randomness.
wall wind dancing
Also, it's good to have more than one profession, in case your own profession goes out of style. A Wall Street trader who's also a belly dancer will do a lot better than a trader who winds up driving a taxi.
adversity fate self
Dress your best on your execution day. Be extremely courteous to your assistant when you lose money. Try not to blame others for your fate, even if they deserve blame. Never exhibit any self-pity. Do not complain.
break-a-leg elephants growth
An elephant is vastly more efficient, metabolically, than a mouse. It's the same for a megacity as opposed to a village. But an elephant can break a leg very easily, whereas you can toss a mouse out of a window and it'll be fine. Size makes you fragile.
art writing oneself
Writing is the art of repeating oneself without anyone noticing.
atheist imbeciles imagine
The rationalist imagines an imbecile-free society; the empiricist and imbecile-proof one, or even better, a rationalist-proof one.
practice our-world secret
There are secrets to our world that only practice can reveal, and no opinion or analysis will ever capture in full.
philosopher walking
To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.
common-sense age collections
I remind myself of Einstein's remark that common sense is nothing but a collection of misconceptions acquired by age 18...
thinking ideas trying
The irony of the process of thought control: the more energy you put into trying to control your ideas and what you think about, the more your ideas end up controlling you.
loneliness emotional suffering
Poverty is clearly one source of emotional suffering, but there are others, like loneliness.
weight injury heavy
I lift heavy weights and sprint, but I am so bad at it that I develop severe injuries.