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Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life Hardcover – 27 February 2018

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Author)

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Book 5 of 5: Incerto

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A bold work from theauthor of The Black Swan that challenges many of our long-held beliefs about risk and reward, politics and religion, finance and personal responsibility

In his most provocative and practical book yet, one of the foremost thinkers of our time redefines what it means to understand the world, succeed in a profession, contribute to a fair and just society, detect nonsense, and influence others. Citing examples ranging from Hammurabi to Seneca, Antaeus the Giant to Donald Trump, Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows how the willingness to accept one's own risks is an essential attribute of heroes, saints, and flourishing people in all walks of life.

As always both accessible and iconoclastic, Taleb challenges long-held beliefs about the values of those who spearhead military interventions, make financial investments, and propagate religious faiths. Among his insights:

- For social justice, focus on symmetry and risk sharing. You cannot make profits and transfer the risks to others, as bankers and large corporations do. You cannot get rich without owning your own risk and paying for your own losses. Forcing skin in the game corrects this asymmetry better than thousands of laws and regulations.
- Ethical rules aren't universal. You're part of a group larger than you, but it's still smaller than humanity in general.
- Minorities, not majorities, run the world. The world is not run by consensus but by stubborn minorities imposing their tastes and ethics on others.
- You can be an intellectual yet still be an idiot. "Educated philistines" have been wrong on everything from Stalinism to Iraq to low-carb diets.
- Beware of complicated solutions (that someone was paid to find). A simple barbell can build muscle better than expensive new machines.
- True religion is commitment, not just faith. How much you believe in something is manifested only by what you're willing to risk for it.

The phrase "skin in the game" is one we have often heard but rarely stopped to truly dissect. It is the backbone of risk management, but it's also an astonishingly rich worldview that, as Taleb shows in this book, applies to all aspects of our lives. As Taleb says, "The symmetry of skin in the game is a simple rule that's necessary for fairness and justice, and the ultimate BS-buster," and "Never trust anyone who doesn't have skin in the game. Without it, fools and crooks will benefit, and their mistakes will never come back to haunt them."

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Book 5 of 5

Incerto
Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Random House
Publication date

27 February 2018
Dimensions

16.33 x 2.69 x 24.1 cm
ISBN-10

042528462X
ISBN-13

978-0425284629
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Popular Highlights in this book

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You will never fully convince someone that he is wrong; only reality can.
Highlighted by 5,723 Kindle readers
Bureaucracy is a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions.
Highlighted by 5,193 Kindle readers
The curse of modernity is that we are increasingly populated by a class of people who are better at explaining than understanding,
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Avoid taking advice from someone who gives advice for a living, unless there is a penalty for their advice.
Highlighted by 4,949 Kindle readers

Product description

Review

Praise for Nassim Nicholas Taleb

"The problem with Taleb is not that he's an asshole. He is an asshole. The problem with Taleb is that he is right."--Dan from Prague, Czech Republic (Twitter)

"The most prophetic voice of all . . . [Taleb is] a genuinely significant philosopher . . . someone who is able to change the way we view the structure of the world through the strength, originality and veracity of his ideas alone."--John Gray, GQ

"Taleb grabs on to core problems that others ignore, or don't see, and shakes them like an attack dog on a leg."--Greg from New York (Twitter)

"For my wife and me, Antifragile is an annual reread."--Colle from Richmond, Virginia (Twitter)

"I read Antifragile four times. First, to get the wisdom to survive. Second, as a memorial statement for Fat Tony. Third, as Das Kapital with correct mathematics. Fourth, as ethics to learn a good way to die."--Tamitake from Tokyo, Japan (Twitter)

"November . . . time for my annual reread of Antifragile."--Johann from Vienna, Austria (Twitter)

"[Taleb writes] in a style that owes as much to Stephen Colbert as it does to Michel de Montaigne."--The Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Nassim Nicholas Taleb spent twenty-one years as a risk taker before becoming a researcher in philosophical, mathematical, and (mostly) practical problems with probability. Although he spends most of his time as a flâneur, meditating in cafés across the planet, he is currently Distinguished Professor at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering. His books, part of a multivolume collection called Incerto, have been published in forty-one languages. Taleb has authored more than fifty scholarly papers as backup to Incerto, ranging from international affairs and risk management to statistical physics. Having been described as "a rare mix of courage and erudition," he is widely recognized as the foremost thinker on probability and uncertainty. Taleb lives mostly in New York.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House (27 February 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 042528462X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425284629
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.33 x 2.69 x 24.1 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 157,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 128 in Financial Risk Management
- 307 in Business Ethics (Books)
- 419 in Social Philosophy

Customer Reviews:
5,942

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Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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Nassim Nicholas Taleb spent more than two decades as a risk taker before becoming a full-time essayist and scholar focusing on practical, philosophical, and mathematical problems with chance, luck, and probability. His focus in on how different systems handle disorder.

He now spends most of his time in the intense seclusion of his study, or as a flâneur meditating in cafés. In addition to his life as a trader he spent several years as an academic researcher (12 years as Distinguished Professor at New York University's School of Engineering, Dean's Professor at U. Mass Amherst).

He is the author of the Incerto (latin for uncertainty), accessible in any order (Skin in the Game, Antifragile, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, and Fooled by Randomness) plus a technical version, The Technical Incerto (Statistical Consequences of Fat Tails). Taleb has also published close to 55 academic and scholarly papers as a backup, technical footnotes to the Incerto in topics ranging from Statistical Physics and Quantitative Finance to Genetics and International affairs. The Incerto has more than 250 translations in 50 languages.

Taleb believes that prizes, honorary degrees, awards, and ceremonialism debase knowledge by turning it into a spectator sport.

""Imagine someone with the erudition of Pico de la Mirandola, the skepticism of Montaigne, solid mathematical training, a restless globetrotter, polyglot, enjoyer of fine wines, specialist of financial derivatives, irrepressible reader, and irascible to the point of readily slapping a disciple." La Tribune (Paris)

A giant of Mediterranean thought ... Now the hottest thinker in the world", London Times

"The most prophetic voice of all" GQ

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Kindle Customer

You will know more about how the world operates after reading this book.

Reviewed in Australia on 4 March 2020

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Incredible insight into decision making and risk. Taleb names name and collects scalps of the people behind the scenes acting without facing the consequences of their actions. He let's you know what to watch out for in your own life and interactions. Awesome book.

2 people found this helpful

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Ian Berry

Candid, enlightening and a little scary

Reviewed in Australia on 11 April 2018

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This book challenged me as a person of possibility for it's author is a self-confessed probability professional.

I loved the section on minority rule in particular, which the author calls the mother of asymmetries. I think this section is very insightful into the art of authentic leadership.

Overall this is a great guide to BS detection and avoidance and ensuring that people without skin in the game don't continue to reap rewards they don't deserve or influence matters based on their self-interest.

I agree with the author that the silver rule is more robust that the golden rule however I still prefer the platinum rule from Tony Alessandra.

This book is also a great guide to living an ethical life. I love this "not everything that happens happens for a reason, but everything that survives survives for a reason."

8 people found this helpful

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Alt3rEg0

Superb. Eye Opening.

Reviewed in Australia on 23 September 2018

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It seems some people dislike Nassim Taleb because of his critical views. I think they are likely the type of people who think they fit the bill. For others who think that the world is being ruined by "ignorant intellectuals" and we are in the "Era of Ignorance" or the "Age of imbecile", Nassim is a hero.

2 people found this helpful

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Karl Mattingly

Refreshingly grounded

Reviewed in Australia on 1 April 2018

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Not afraid of controversy, and that has clearly irritated many reviewers.

But underpinned by clarity and integrity with deep thinking grounded in rich experience [and quite possibly some pain].

Totally refreshing traders perspective.

This read is like having a bloody good meal with a difficult but much loved friend. Worth the trouble.

2 people found this helpful

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Trevor Cuthbert

Insightful bubblegum for your brain

Reviewed in Australia on 15 March 2019

Verified Purchase

As in his previous books in this series, Skin In The Game ignited many takeaways for me. The book itself seems disorganised or a little poorly planned, but that didn't stop me reading it to its conclusion. AS with the others, it will be revisited from time to time.

One person found this helpful

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Rajeev

Excellent

Reviewed in Australia on 3 October 2018

Verified Purchase

Great Read

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Jeffrey Sayer

Another surprising book by Taleb

Reviewed in Australia on 8 April 2018

Verified Purchase

Some really interesting ideas in this new book by Taleb. But the book gives the impression of having been prepared in a rush. Some sections are more interesting and better written than others. Reflections on academia and the hazards of reductionist science are the best part of the book. Taleb convinced me yhat we need a revolution in academia. Academia has to value people who have “skin in the game”

4 people found this helpful

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DMBlue

THE great 21st century Philosopher

Reviewed in Australia on 12 May 2018

Verified Purchase

It is rare to see such a clear eyed perspective on the reality of living.
Such a change from the soap opera of media columnists.

2 people found this helpful

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