Monthly Archives: June 2012

Book Recommendations from Nassim Taleb | Farnam Street

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Farnam Street covered NNT’s Amazon Book Review Page.

Information: The New Language of Science 5 stars
If you want an introduction to information theory, and, in a way, probability theory from the real front door, this is it. A clearly written book, very intuitive, explains things, such as the Monty Hall problem in a few lines. I will make it a prerequisite before more technical great books, such as Cover and Thompson.

Free The Animal: Lose Weight & Fat With The Paleo Diet 5 stars
A charming primer on the paleo idea, with an illustration through the authors own life. I read it in one sitting. Why Everyone Else Is a Hypocrite:

Evolution and the Modular Mind 5 stars
This is a great synthesis of the modularity approach to cognitive science. It covers the entire field and has the right footnotes for the patches. The style is readable, & the author has an attitude with is a very good thing, but his jokes are often bland, not aggressive enough. While I strongly disagree with his treatment of morality I am deontic, I can safely say, so far, that this is not just one of the best books in cognitive science, but certainly one of the most readable.

via Book Recommendations from Nassim Taleb | Farnam Street.
HatTip to Dave Lull

(REVISED) What do you do to a “prominent” social scientist…

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(REVISED)

What do you do to a “prominent” social scientist who is talking about my book while visibly not read it (or did not read it attentively to realize that his points are not what I am saying)?

The best strategy is to… promote his review.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1WEIPZNPXM3U1/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

via (REVISED) What do….

Amazon.com: Herbert Gintis’ review of The Black Swan

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1.0 out of 5 stars Might be a nice twenty page essay, but a bomb of a book, April 10, 2012

By

Herbert Gintis

This review is from: The Black Swan (Hardcover)

Science does not generally predict, but when it is good science, it does explain. You cannot, even in principle, predict the decay of an energized particle, or when a component in a complex mechanism will fail. But you can develop a probability distribution that accurately represent the decay probability of the particle or the distribution of failure times of the component.

Of course, the most important time we drove to work is the time an iron bar came loose from a pickup-truck and came crashing through our winshield. Science cannot predict this. But science can tell us how to reduce or even eliminate the chance that this event will happen in a properly equipped pickup-truck. It is not an indictment of engineering models that they cannot predict, as the author seems to believe.

It would be lovely to have an insigntful exposition of great unexpected events, such as the fall of the Soviet Union, Black Monday, and the shooting of Robert Kennedy. This woeful volume is not it. I can’t image what anyone finds valuable in The Black Swan. This too is a completely unforseen event, but is also difficult to explain in hindsight.

via Amazon.com: Herbert Gintis’ review of The Black Swan.

Horizons Universa US Black Swan ETF (HUS.U)

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If there’s an investment-savvy reader out there who cares to have a look at and comment on this ETF for us that would be great. Doesn’t an “actively managed basket of put and call options” imply a steady drain on the fund unless and until there is a ‘Black Swan’ event?

The protection strategy

Universa’s proprietary Black Swan Protection Protocol (BSPP) uses an actively managed basket of put and call options that aims to protect the equity index exposure from Black Swan events. The BSPP should generate positive returns during sudden significant market declines. Gains generated from the BSPP are invested into the equity index exposure when it is historically less expensive, giving investors a potential “buy-low” advantage and the future compound growth that comes with it.

via Horizons Universa US Black Swan ETF (HUS.U).
HatTip to Trevor.