Book rec
We’re always looking for new things to read here at MyWeeklyBook. Which is why I was intrigued by this review on the Freakonomics blog of Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner, which often throws up interesting things. I’ve quoted a bit to give you a flavour of the book, and included a link to the original post so you can read the whole thing if it grabs you. Definitely going on the old TBR list, this one - sounds fascinating.
The blog is also planning a Q&A with the author (hence the title of the post) and is inviting readers to submit questions, so get on along.
Your Input Needed: Hunting the Black Swan
“Ferreting out antilogics is an exhilarating activity.”
Do you agree with the above sentence? If so, you will probably enjoy the writing of Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a polymathic gentleman whose new book is called The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Here’s how its dust jacket succinctly describes the thesis: “A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11.”
I am about a third of the way through The Black Swan, and am finding it to be one of the most fun and challenging books I’ve read in a long time. It barrels its way through history, psychology, philosophy, statistics, etc. You find yourself arguing Taleb every third sentence or so — but, to me, that is part of the great fun. Read on here…
Always interested to hear your book recommendations - email them to recommendations SPLAT myweeklybook.net…
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