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Skin in the Game
- Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
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Skin in the Game
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Publisher's Summary
Number-one New York Times best seller
A bold work from the author 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 asymmetrically 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 have 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."
What listeners say about Skin in the Game
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-10-2021
another repeat listen type
You'll need to listen again as it's the type of book that will have wisdom for years to come
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 03-09-2020
Brilliant book
Such a brilliant book with lots of depth. I’ve listened to it more then 5 times just to fully understand everything with in it and always get something new on each new listen.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Louis Cohalan
- 30-12-2022
Entertaining and inciteful
Another fun essay from NNT with a few extra digs at other public intellectuals and a good dose of self-aggrandisment. Useful concepts of the Minority Rule, Lindy Effect and Ergodicity discussed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Paul
- 30-04-2018
A bizarre but enlightening rant
I had many doubts about this book. The author can be hypocritical and blind to very obvious irony. However there are so many flashes of rare insight and interesting uses of language that it is ultimately a very rewarding read. Loved it! A contradiction, just like this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-06-2021
Real life practical wisdom from a Practitioner
Great analysis and subjects. Really interesting concepts. If everyone read this many of our problems could be tackled practically and resolved or eased.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 27-06-2021
Imagine grandmothers wisdom in schools
wish I'd come across Taleb earlier, like decades and career choices earlier..told in the uncompromising way of the expert with FU money credentials
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Josh
- 06-12-2023
An interesting take
Unapologetically critical of popular ideas, jobs, their roles and views of modernity. I found it refreshing to hear well thought out counter arguments to popular norms and opinions.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Cameron Knott
- 08-05-2021
Not as good as the others
Taleb remains interesting and charismatic. However, the ideas of Skin in the Game are too similar to The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness to warrant its own book. The latter books also have fewer digressions into score settling, you're better off reading those.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 20-09-2021
Better to be read than listened to
Unfortunately, the (monotone) narration style makes it incredibly difficult to engage with the story/argument. What a pitty.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sam Joel
- 03-03-2023
thought provoking
This book challenges you to think- in a great way. I highly recommend this book.
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