Tag: Nassim Taleb
18 posts tagged "Nassim Taleb".
Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, and former options trader whose Incerto series — Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile, and Skin in the Game — is the single biggest influence on this blog's thinking about uncertainty. Taleb argues that rare, high-impact events (tail risk) dominate history yet are routinely underestimated, and that the wise response is not to predict them but to structure your life so they can't ruin you and might even help you. His ideas underpin much of the case for optionality, the barbell strategy, and a preference for asymmetric bets with capped downside and open-ended upside. He studied under the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot, whose work on wild randomness shaped his statistics.
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Highlights From the Comments on AI Doom
My coming-out post on why I'm no longer an AI doomer seems to have struck a nerve.
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Why I am No Longer an AI Doomer
At the exact same time we're seeing a real-life explosion in AI capabilities, I've become much less worried about the prospect of doom. Here's why.
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The ‘Bias’ Bias: No, Your Brain is Not Made of Swiss Cheese
Most apparent biases are, in fact, perfectly good heuristics, and people are far more rational than we have been led to believe.
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10 Principles of Optionality For an Uncertain World
What is optionality? If you want a thorough answer, check out the big juicy book I spent the last couple of years writing.
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Getting Hacked and Getting Hard
CLEARANCE SALE! VANS SHOES CHEAP! I was as surprised as anyone to hear that I'd pivoted from blogging to hawking knock-off footwear on Facebook.
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Better to Reign in Hell Than Serve in Heaven
‘Better to rule in hell than serve in heaven’ is the unofficial motto of freelancers and entrepreneurs. But escaping the tyranny of work comes at a price. Is it worth it?
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The Optionality Approach to Getting Lucky
What is optionality? My favourite tool for finding juicy asymmetries between risk and reward, and creating your own luck.
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Beware of Geeks Bearing Formulas
The history of finance is a history of brains splattered on the pavement. Just how safe is the buy-and-hold index funds orthodoxy?
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Meditations on Momentum
First, work your butt off to get some momentum behind you. Keep a watchful eye out for entropy. Then, focus your efforts on helping other people up.
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Fuck-You Money Part II
For a refresher on the importance of fuck-you money, go peel off a $100 bill, and subject yourself to the silent, brooding judgment of Benjamin Franklin.
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The Joy of Fuck-You Money
According to Humphrey Bogart, the only good reason for making money is “so you can tell any son-of-a-bitch in the world to go to hell”.
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The Best of the Best Books I Read in 2017
It’s been another self-indulgent year of funemployment, which means I’ve had time to read to my heart's content. Here's the best of the best.
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Advanced Investing: The Barbell Strategy for Bastards
"Marry an accountant, but have occasional flings with rock stars." Nassim Taleb's barbell strategy won't improve marital harmony, but it's smart investing.
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Living The 4 Hour Work Week (How Tim Ferriss Created a Monster)
The 4HWW's unintended legacy is a groundswell of self-loathing in the digital nomad community. What did Tim get right, and which parts have gone rotten?
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The Barbell Strategy: How Not to Be a Starving Artist
Living off ramen in your mom's basement while you wait for your genius business idea or novel to hit the big time is a dead end. It's time to get strategic.
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The 100 Books Challenge (A Love Letter to Reading)
Reading books is the single most powerful way to improve your life, which is why I'm taking on the 100 books challenge - and why you should join me.
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How a Billionaire Taught Me to Invest Using the Force
I didn't get to ask David Booth to weigh in on the Han vs Greedo controversy, but our conversation was still among the most life-changing I’ve ever had.
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Getting Rid of All Your Stuff Feels Like Taking a Big, Dreamy Dump
See also: Rasping dead skin off your feet, taking a tactical spew during a big night out, or achieving inbox zero. It's the same sort of deep satisfaction.
