Ideology of Power

Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan is one of those books that has contributed saliently to daily vocabulary: the phrase ‘Black Swan’ is now pretty much standard fare when describing such events, which though were considered highly improbable before it happened, nevertheless occurred with blinding ferocity – throwing a wrench in the predictions of those handy but misleading ‘Gaussian Curve’ models. The Black Swan proves an intelligent read, and rather than forcing one to agree, it shows its conclusions through a transparent process of reasoning and substantiation. The analogies are as entertaining as they are invaluable in clarifying core concepts, and unlike many philosophers who dispense with making their work accessible, Taleb seems to place great importance in making himself understood by the layman.