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Monthly Archives: February 2013

Erudition without bullshit…

Erudition without bullshit, intellect without cowardice, courage without imprudence, mathematics without nerdiness, scholarship without academia, intelligence without shrewdness, religiosity without intolerance, elegance without softness, sociality without dependence, enjoyment without addiction, and, above all, nothing without skin in the game.(A letter of advice to a younger person) via Erudition without… | Facebook.

N Taleb’s review of Models. Behaving.Badly: Why Confusing Illusion with Reality Can Lead to Disaster, on Wall Street and in Life

Here is what I wrote in my endorsement: Emanuel Derman has written my kind of a book, an elegant combination of memoir, confession, and essay on ethics, philosophy of science and professional practice. He convincingly establishes the difference between model and theory and shows why attempts to model financial markets can never be genuinely scientific. […]

ANTIFRAGILITY OF LOST & FOUND

ANTIFRAGILITY OF LOST & FOUND The natural benefit of a cell phone, laptop, and other indispensable modern items is the joy one gets finding the object after losing it. Lose your wallet full of credit cards and you will have a chance to have a great day. (From Jensen’s inequality). via ANTIFRAGILITY OF… | Facebook.

‘Black Swan’ Author Says U.S. Should Have Broken Up Banks – Bloomberg

“An environment that doesn’t learn from mistakes is one that’s not very healthy,” Taleb said today in an interview with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television. “We should have broken up the banks, we should be decentralizing. Instead the system is getting more centralized.”  

Junglies’ review of Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder Amazon.com

Infuriating? The breakneck speed with which the reader engages the book reminds me of the scene in 2001 where the astronaught is propelled through the star gate. As he moves forward everything is changing around him and he is awestruck by the carnival of lights until he finds himself in a somewhat recognisable room but […]