Reviews
This book is the latest in the _Incerto_ series, where Taleb is mad to everyone that doesn't have _Skin the Game_—that makes a decision without suffering the consequences of it. His thinking is that without it, we have nothing. That we need personal benefit and responsibility for good decisions to be made.
Things I liked: Skin in the Game - basically a more well-rounded version of incentive and Taleb goes on to examine many different areas in which the lack of "skin in the game" is responsible for sub-optimal results such as: - medical industry - Israel-Palestine conflict (arbiters have no skin in the game) - academics (he has a real bone to pick with them and its quite annoying) - minority rule. Really determined small groups of people can have an influence on the greater majority ○ GMO's (anti-gmo folk) ○ halal/kosher ○ mom group banning Tyler the Creator - risk sharing vs. risk transfer ○ not fair to transfer risk. no party should be able to enjoy gains without facing a certain degree of risk also enjoyed the part about virtue signalling and how you must live according to your ideals for them to have meaning (he took it much too far and insisted on anyone anti-capitalist to live in a cave in Afghanistan though...) Dislikes: - what is the problem with mental accounting? He rags on it but fails to articulate the reason it doesn't make sense? He brings up Thaler a few times as an object of distaste (and a few others which I am not as familiar with) - too much grandstanding and ranting. Why do you subject us to your opinion on journos or academics. I would say 10-20% of the book is Taleb talking negatively about someone or an occupation - he says that the information network has returned to the masses and news was "fake" pre-2016? Is he serious? He thinks misinformation was worse in 90's-2016? He is weirdly pro Trump - Also he says something about wealthy people being more deserving of positions of authority because they have at least displayed a modicum of competence. And then says that losing a billion is also respectable. This seems like a loop where wealthy born people are automatically leaders TL;DR: ok I need to stop here. There are at least a dozen more things i disagree with I could bring up. But I will still give this 3 stars because 1. it was well-written 2. had ideas I will walk away with - principally the applications of "skin in the game" - the part about working for yourself vs employee - thinking about risk in a more dynamic way
Nassim Taleb always gives you a bright and different perspective on how there is more rationality and numbers behind our behaviour and decissions, even if we as individuals we are more subjecttives there are reason an logic that can be approach with math models
An egocentric intellectual rant, disappointing in comparison to his previous books. Earlier books had a level of ego I could handle, but Taleb loses the plot in this book.
I picked up this book because I thought it would be in the same vein as "Winners Take All" by Anand Giridharadas...but it just wasn't even close. I don't even know how to describe this book. You know that pompous ***clown who corners you at a party droning on and on about his own genius until you seriously consider faking a peanut allergy? It's like if that guy was a book. I mean, forgive me, I'm not an "IYI" (Intellectual Yet Idiot) - I'm just an idiot, so I missed anything that resembled a point he was trying to make. I think I was distracted by the author's seething hatred of intellectuals, people who take his parking space, and - for some reason - Steven Pinker. And I didn't disagree with everything he said. Yes, journalistic integrity has been sacrificed for the sound bite used to elicit an emotional reaction. And, yes, too many "experts" come out of their ivory towers to solve a "community problem" without truly being invested in that community (spoiler alert - that never works out). But it was just hard to swallow wrapped up in all that disdain. The author quoted a lot of philosophers in this book, so let me end this review with a quote from my favorite philosopher, the Dude from "The Big Lebowski" - "You're not wrong, Walter, you're just an asshole."
I enjoyed all of these books. The premise is generally very simple and Taleb rants and in some cases rambles for a few hundred pages but I find his rants generally thought-provoking and interesting. If you combined all his books and removed repetitive rants about Bob Rubin, Steven Pinker, etc. the whole thing would be much shorter, although perhaps less humorous. The things that will stick with me are... We are better off complaining about lawyers than complaining about not having lawyers. This reminds me of the fact that it’s easy to complain about problems but it’s important to consider the actual alternatives. Life will never be perfect. Reminder of the concept of “via negativa” His discussion of the difference between religions - some are legal systems some are belief systems. In complex systems, the most important thing is how parts of the system interact rather than how they act by themselves. This made me think about the systems inside an organization. There is a lot of talk about how important it is to have great people, but success is based on getting them to interact in a specific way rather than just letting them do their thing. I totally buy into the need for skin in the game, and I find myself thinking of examples where someone actually does the right thing even with no skin in the game. I guess the idea is that it isn’t necessary on the margin but IS necessary at a system level.
Okay, so I pushed through this one because my partner is a fan of Taleb, and I get it. I do. His ideas are good, very good, his ideas are brilliant, and challenging, and even groundbreaking. But the delivery, man, the delivery is just not as good as the ideas. While Taleb's ideas are interesting, they are not that complex. I mean, they are a little bit complex, maybe, but not as complex as they come across in this book. However, Taleb's writing gets in the way of his message. He goes on and on, picking on this person and that book, attacking this or that community, and rambling about this and that. His - albeit great - ideas could have been summarised in 50 pages, probably less than that. I find Taleb's personality gets in the way of his own ideas, and I think he likes himself a little too much. Am I happy I finished this? Yes Will I read another book by Taleb? Maybe. I would be grateful if someone re-edited his work.
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It’s hard to distill the contents of Skin in the Game in just a few words. The book covers a lot of ground and jumps from one rarely discussed topic to another. The main theme though is this: don’t cut corners, don’t talk about things you don’t understand, do more, talk less. While I can’t really call it practical, Skin in the Game: The Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life is surely provocative. Throughout the pages, you’ll see how Taleb is picking fights with professors and other authors – mainly with Steven Pinker. Initially, it was funny, but after the 2nd and the 3rd time he’s mean to others, it started sounding like he’s in college, and he’s trying to impress the other kids – kind of sad for a grown man. But let’s get back to the book… So, according to the findings of the author, having skin in the game is your most valuable asset. This should be your credo. You should use every breathing moment to try different things, to take risks, to improve your craft. But there is one important point to mention which is actually my key takeaway: Even though the author continuously mentions that the world is flooded with fake gurus and charlatans who are constantly trying to find a new way to rob you, you should learn from them. Also, no matter what is said, the world cares mostly about aesthetics. So, make sure to present yourself properly. Read full summary: https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...
