disclaimer: this is a review about this digital edition and not of the book this edition is a nightmare to highlight in

Bought this on audiobook today it will be my fourth reading, I first read this book back when it was first published. It’s groundbreaking work that should make us all inspect and re-evaluate all of our approaches to risk and uncertainty and think best with how we are best prepared for the unforeseen and high-impact events that conventional models either assign an incorrect probability or the type of event is simply unforeseeable (aka the “Turkey Problem”). This works on all levels so there are lessons to be found for us all as individuals, parents, families … governments. This book is not for those who benefit from government bailouts!

Interesting book with a few good takeaways and original ideas. Could be much shorter though. There are some topics where the author is trying to be too bombastic/outlandish but that’s understandable- the book sells better that way. Also, his obsession with being against the Gaussian distribution becomes a little irritating later in the book- he just keeps repeating himself.

One word - Horrible. This is nothing but a name dropping stream of consciousness that should have been summed up in half the words and with less philosophy and written to the general public rather than to Danny Kahneman.

Autobiographical meanderings that total up to one simple idea, life is unpredictable. As the son of an engineer, I learned early in life that the governing principle of engineering is called, light-heartedly, "Murphy's Law." Though many corollaries have been developed over the years, like "the time it takes to complete a project will expand to the time allotted," the main thesis is that, "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and at the worst possible time." Taleb does make one good point in a previous book he authored, the soft sciences are not science at all. Anything that involves humans is unpredictable because we have the ability to predict, and thus antiicpate and alter the future. Inadvertantly perhaps, he provides a very simple and logical definition of Free Will.

The few insights the author offers are masked by page after page of cutesy, boring prose. One of the most un-worthwhile tomes I have ever invested in. I am terribly disappointed.

This book is a roller coaster — fast and slow. It left indelible marks before and after i read it in 2012, and in repetitions since then. Densely packed, but packed that for good reason… name Taleb could find no better way. His heated passion for subjected matter comes through again and again. Not light reading material — but takes repetition and time to digest. Can be thrilling, dizzying like a roller coaster. But unlike the primarily entertainment focus of a roller coaster Taleb’s entertainment goal not main one.

Page after boring page of self-indulgent tripe. Larded with cross-references that don't work.

This book crystalized something I first sensed the day after 9/11… That unexpected, epic events often play out just the opposite of conventional wisdom and are often misinterpreted in hindsight. Because of this need to explain things that could not be predicted, we live in a sort of false history and seem to be painting ourselves into a corner in terms of laws and rights and wars in a sad effort to stop events we can't possibly predict. Taleb is a true genius.

This book has changed my thoughts on how a lot of things actually work. I live in the US and am astouned at the insight provided here. Go buy to today. You will not regret it.