Nassim Nicholas Taleb weaves in excerpts from experts, mostly philosophers, as noted in 26 pages of Bibliography.
There was a lot that was easy to read, and a lot that was difficult to read through, but it was all interesting. You might not agree with all of his conclusions.
The basic premise is that life will throw us a Black Swan somewhere along the way -- the unexpected (not necessarily a negative, but nevertheless unexpected) and it will throw us a curve. We need to prepare for this, though we can't predict what it will be, that's the nature of the Black Swan concept.
If all you think exists are white swans, then if you see a black swan, you might think it is not a swan at all. But if you accept that it is indeed a black swan, your world view has changed.
It's no wonder that he has an affinity for this concept. One of his early stories is from Lebanon, his birth place. Once upon a time in the not so distant past, it was a place of refinement and multiple cultures living together happily (for centuries.) Then the unthinkable happened -- war -- in the streets where he grew up -- and people in transit, thinking they would be back home in days. Not so.
Everything changed.
Then like history books after war, trying to make sense of it, trying to find the reasons, when in truth they don't particularly exist -- or maybe they exist on different levels for different folks depending on the perspective. It's too simplistic to think there is an xyz for the unthinkable, for that which is outside one's realm of reality.
Much of this book is heavy duty, lots of math, philosophy, bell curves...lightened by his sense of humor... specific words and language that he likely made up for which I wish I'd made a dictionary so I could refer to it easily. I got so I just read over those words to the concepts behind them. If I reread the book, I will do just that.
I can see having the book as a reference to all the philosophers he quotes. It's the short and sweet version of the unabridged version that he undoubtedly knows.
I'm not quite through with it yet, but I expect to finish it shortly.
I like his idea of clasping every opportunity, as they might not come up again. And there are other quotes that I might tuck in here tomorrow.
Have you read this book?
I'd like to give it a 4, but I suspect for difficulty of read, I'd have to say 2. I like the concepts. I believe in the concept of the Black Swan, do you?
Karin
Originally posted 2009-07-17 21:38:01.
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