Skin in the Game cover art

Skin in the Game

Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

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Skin in the Game

Written by: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Narrated by: Joe Ochman
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About this listen

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."

©2018 Nassim Nicholas Taleb (P)2018 Random House Audio
Business Ethics Ethics & Morality Management Money & Finance Politics & Government Society Sociology

What listeners say about Skin in the Game

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Nice

Different book

Intriguing and thought provoking

Some eye opener thoughts


Must read for intellectual beings

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Extraordinary

This book is just awesome!
Every word is out of pure experience.
Nassim Taleb is the best.


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3 people found this helpful

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NNT...does it again...a wonderful book

loved the book.... a must read for those who read his other books .... and a please do read for all new readers.

The NNT is as always to the point, does not use big words and does not beat around the bush.

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mindblowing

listened to it twice . back to back .understand the concepts and its eye opener

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Great book and great narration

Naration by joe gels in well with the words of Nassim Taleb. Will be listening to it for the 3rd time soon.

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Narration Style

I love the way Taleb puts it across, from statistics and probability standpoint, this book is an excellent approach to debunk some of the leftist ideology.

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Interesting views

The subject matter is interesting and has been read out very well.The combination of a good strong voice and well expressed viewpoint of the author made listening to it an enjoyable experience for me .

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heavy metal psycho, stats, probability hidden

great narrative, for the psychology, statistics, probability, risk management buffs, quite technical at many places. I will need another pass at it to get the grip.. but loved it.

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Awesome

I am a fan of his work and this book is no different. Anyone who wants to understand risk and probability should read it

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Eye Opener

Amazing book with lots of facts which we tend to miss out when we look at the World especially Skin in the Game

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