The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Description

An updated edition with more aphorisms from one of our most iconoclastic thinkers In a climate when iconoclasm is the smartest intellectual stance - whether against bankers, traders, politicians, the energy industry, or journalists - one of today's most prominent rabble-rousers gives his quick-witted and snappy guide to questioning the status quo. With characteristic panache and brio, Taleb uses aphorisms to condense his rambunctious ideas and style. This is the perfect reference for anyone searching for the right questions to ask.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb has devoted his life to immersing himself in problems of luck, uncertainty, probability and knowledge. Part literary essayist, part empiricist, part no-nonsense mathematical trader, he is currently Dean's Professor in the Science of Uncertainty at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His last book, the bestseller Fooled by Randomness, has been published in eighteen languages and was selected by Fortune magazine as one of "The Smartest Books of All Time". Taleb lives mostly in New York.

Like Twain and Wilde before him, Taleb eats paradoxes for breakfast... The aphorism is Taleb to a tee. It showcases his wit and learning, and provides ways to fillet his enemies. All his usual suspects are present to be corrected: bankers, fools, politicians, journalists... Present, too, are his heroes: the curious, the intellectually anarchistic, the idle philosopher -- James Kidd * Independent on Sunday * [A] quirky, entertaining collection of aphorisms, covering everything from the web to the injuriousness of doing too much work... a wry, often hila rious glimpse -- Robert Collins * The Times *