Book Review; The Black Swan by Nicholas Nassim Taleb

I haven’t read the book but I have read some of the draft chapters from his homepage. I found it interesting and entertaining but maybe my limited understanding of english didn’t help me spot all the deficiencies the OP is talking about. Anyway if you are looking for a pleasant read I think the book is OK, if you are looking for answers about overunity don’t read it.
 
Quote from Pekelo:

[B Let's quote a reviewer from Amazon:

"Let me give a simple illustration: In the book, Mr Taleb gives the example of a Turkey that is fed everyday and thinks to him/herself "Hey! These humans feed me everyday- They're great!" only to be surprised, one day, out of the blue, when it lands on the chopping block.

TMr. Taleb argues "See, That turkey is dumb by predicting that humans will always be nice to him, given prior evidence- Don't be like the turkey"

." [/B]
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I like the argument, and it is very relavant to trading. Did the author mention that it was originally put forward by Sir Bertrand Russell (except that Russell used a chicken and neck ringing)
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

i don't think this is a proven fact. we know that taleb closed the fund, however, he was having health issues during this time.

can anyone clarify??

regards,

surf
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every time a celebrity or congressman has a problem they check into rehab etc. to avoid censure etc.
mutual funds drop from their scorecards funds that have closed.
give us a break.
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

i don't think this is a proven fact. we know that taleb closed the fund, however, he was having health issues during this time.

can anyone clarify??

regards,

surf
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Bullshit! He had health issues a long time ago. He decided to teach at Columbia U and in fact he took a long Sabbatical from that as well to give talks on roasted swans whilst diddling the Iris of his mate P Widdy - whom he collaborates with to this day peddling swan oil to the masses! Who knows what his fund was doing, but if it was making cubic-cash would he have closed it? :p
Ning ning ning ning ning ning ning...
 
Quote from Equalizer:

Bullshit! He had health issues a long time ago. He decided to teach at Columbia U and in fact he took a long Sabbatical from that as well to ! Who knows what his fund was doing, but if it was making cubic-cash would he have closed it? :p
Ning ning ning ning ning ning ning...
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here's the latest review from slate:

http://www.slate.com/id/2167993/nav/ais/


this book could be a monster.

still waiting for any real facts on why his fund closed.

regards,
surf
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

here's the latest review from slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2167993
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.. And here's the reply on Mahalanobis http://mahalanobis.twoday.net/stories/3842722/ .. ``Damning with faint praise: When a friend's daughter is unattractive, one often says something like, "she has such pretty eyes", or "she has such pretty hair". Nothing screams louder than a sympathetic evaluator who can only manage a lame compliment. So I laughed when Tyler Cowen tried to praise Nassim Taleb's Black Swan over on Slate..''
 
Quote from Rodney King:

.. And here's the reply on Mahalanobis http://mahalanobis.twoday.net/stories/3842722/ .. ``Damning with faint praise: When a friend's daughter is unattractive, one often says something like, "she has such pretty eyes", or "she has such pretty hair". Nothing screams louder than a sympathetic evaluator who can only manage a lame compliment. So I laughed when Tyler Cowen tried to praise Nassim Taleb's Black Swan over on Slate..''
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thanks, rodney. that's an interesting site--- some very unique links--- should keep me busy for a bit!

best,
surf
 
Quote from marketsurfer:

thanks, rodney. that's an interesting site--- some very unique links--
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No worries, Surf. Mahalanobis is an excellent blog, lots of intelligent and original material -- always worth a look. One of the frequent contributors is an ex-colleague of mine, a very competent and thoughtful guy.
 
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