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.
mistake people harm
Capitalism is about adventurers who get harmed by their mistakes, not people who harm others with their mistakes.
loneliness emotional suffering
Poverty is clearly one source of emotional suffering, but there are others, like loneliness.
mistake pay-the-price benefits
Bankers, they're not harmed by their mistakes. They benefit when things go right, and the society pays the price.
bankers bonus expenses
The bonus for bankers fragilizes the system. Someone has the upside at the expense of others.
love-life political volatility
Political life loves some volatility.
mistake used situation
Make sure that you are in a situation where the constant mistakes are small and can be used for something.
valleys tools use
You want failures to be small and informational. Silicon Valley does very well. It knows how to use failure as a tool for improvement.
machines want adjusting
A washing machine needs constant maintenance. It doesn't want any harm. It wants tranquility, and you need someone to - you're not going to harm it by continuously monitoring it and adjusting it.
humans lack
We humans lack imagination, to the point of not even knowing what tomorrow's important things will look like.
crazier freedom money scenarios
Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money away, and then you can live with much more freedom.
fails
Bailing out every bank that fails makes the system riskier, not safer.
surplus
Governments that try to shoot for a surplus hardly ever reach it.
risks
If you take risks and face your fate with dignity, there is nothing you can do that makes you small; if you don't take risks, there is nothing you can do that makes you grand, nothing.