Tuesday, June 01, 2010
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A black swan is an occurrence that we do not see coming like 9.11, or the banking collapse of last year, or even the success of Harry Potter. These black swans pop up everywhere and if we do not account for them we are in big trouble. Nassim Nicholas Taleb opened my eyes to the difference between the world we live in and the world we think we live in, Mediocristan vs. Extremistan.
Taleb is ruthless yet funny, extreme yet understandable, brash yet hopeful. I very much enjoyed this eye opening look at the unexpected results we call black swans.
A black swan is an occurrence that we do not see coming like 9.11, or the banking collapse of last year, or even the success of Harry Potter. These black swans pop up everywhere and if we do not account for them we are in big trouble. Nassim Nicholas Taleb opened my eyes to the difference between the world we live in and the world we think we live in, Mediocristan vs. Extremistan.
Taleb is ruthless yet funny, extreme yet understandable, brash yet hopeful. I very much enjoyed this eye opening look at the unexpected results we call black swans.
