Editing Nassim Nicholas Taleb (section)

{{Short description|Lebanese-American author (born 1960)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Nassim Nicholas Taleb
| image             = Taleb mug.JPG
| caption           = Taleb in 2010
| birth_date        = {{Birth-date and age| 12 September 1960}}
| birth_place       = [[Amioun]], Lebanon
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| nationality       = [[Lebanese nationality law|Lebanese]] and [[American nationality law|American]]
| alma_mater        = {{plainlist|
* [[University of Paris]] ([[B. S.|BS]], [[M. S.|MS]]){{Clarify|post-text=(see [[Talk:Nassim Nicholas Taleb#Incorrect alma mater|talk]])|date=August 2023}}
* [[University of Pennsylvania]] ([[M. B. A.|MBA]])
* [[Paris Dauphine University]] ([[PhD]])}}
| thesis_title      = The Microstructure of Dynamic Hedging
| thesis_year       = 1998
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Hélyette Geman]]
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = Applied [[epistemology]], [[antifragility]], [[black swan theory]], [[ludic fallacy]], [[antilibrary]]
| website           = {{URL|http://fooledbyrandomness.com}}
| field             = [[decision theory]], [[risk]], [[probability]]
| work_institution  = [[New York University]]<br />[[University of Massachusetts Amherst]]
| prizes            = [[Bruno Leoni Institute|Bruno Leoni Award]], Wolfram Innovator Award
}}

'''Nassim Nicholas Taleb'''{{efn|{{langx|ar|نسيم نقولا طالب}}}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɑː|l|ə|b}}; alternatively ''Nessim ''or'' Nissim''; born 12 September 1960) is a [[Lebanese-American]] essayist, [[mathematical statistics|mathematical statistician]], former [[option trader]], [[risk analysis|risk analyst]], and [[aphorist]].<ref name=Berenson>{{cite news| last=Berenson| first=Alex|author-link=Alex Berenson| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/business/12change.html?pagewanted=2 |title=A Year Later, Little Change on Wall St.| work=[[The New York Times]]| date=11 September 2009| quote=Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a statistician, trader, and author, has argued for years that. ...}}</ref><ref name=Maslin>{{cite news| last=Maslin| first=Janet|author-link=Janet Maslin| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/books/17book.html |title=Explaining the Modern World and Keeping It Short| work=[[The New York Times]]| date = 16 November 2010 |quote=In his happily provocative new book of aphorisms, the fiscal prophet and self-appointed flâneur Nassim Nicholas Taleb aims particular scorn at anyone who thinks aphorisms require explanation. ...}}</ref> His work concerns problems of [[randomness]], [[probability]], [[complexity]], and [[uncertainty]].

Taleb is the author of the ''Incerto'', a five-volume work on the nature of uncertainty published between 2001 and 2018 (notably, ''[[The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable|The Black Swan]]'' and ''[[Antifragile (book)|Antifragile]]''). He has taught at several universities, serving as a Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at the [[New York University Tandon School of Engineering]] since September 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/taleb.html |title=The third culture&nbsp;– Nassim Nicholas Taleb |publisher=Edge |access-date=14 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724135339/http://edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/taleb.html |archive-date=24 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="nyuedu"/>  He has also been a practitioner of [[mathematical finance]] and is currently an adviser at [[Universa Investments]]. ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' described his 2007 book ''[[The Black Swan (Taleb book)|The Black Swan]]'' as one of the 12 most influential books since [[World War II]].<ref name="STimes">{{cite news |last=Appleyard |first=Bryan |author-link=Bryan Appleyard |date=19 July 2009 |title=Books that helped to change the world |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/books-that-helped-to-change-the-world-qbhxgvg2kwh |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Taleb criticized risk management methods used by the finance industry and warned about [[financial crises]], subsequently profiting from the [[Black Monday (1987)]] and the [[2008 financial crisis]].<ref name="WallSt">{{cite news|last=Patterson |first=Scott |url-access=subscription| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122567265138591705 |title=October Pain Was 'Black Swan' Gain |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |date=3 November 2008 |access-date=14 October 2009}}</ref> He advocates what he calls a "black swan robust" society, meaning a society that can withstand difficult-to-predict events.<ref name=swans>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=aPaQ1qmwpYmw&pid=newsarchive |title=Brevan Howard Shows Paranoid Survive in Hedge Fund of Time Outs |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=31 March 2009 |quote='black swans'&nbsp;– difficult-to-predict events that can wipe out a fund. The term was popularized by hedge fund manager and author Nassim Taleb."}}</ref> He proposes what he has termed "[[antifragility]]" in systems; that is, an ability to benefit and grow from a certain class of random events, errors, and volatility,<ref name="epigenetics">{{cite journal|title=Genes &#124; Antifragility and Tinkering in Biology (and in Business) Flexibility Provides an Efficient Epigenetic Way to Manage Risk |journal=Genes |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=998–1016 |doi=10.3390/genes2040998 |pmid=24710302 |pmc=3927596 |year=2011 |last1=Danchin |first1=Antoine |last2=Binder |first2=Philippe M. |last3=Noria |first3=Stanislas |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="danchinsynd">{{cite web|url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/the-anti-fragile-life-of-the-economy |title=Antoine Danchin on The Anti-Fragile Life of the Economy |publisher=Project-syndicate.org |date=1 May 2015 |access-date=7 May 2015}}</ref> as well as "convex tinkering" as a method of scientific discovery, by which he means that decentralized [[experiment|experimentation]] outperforms directed research.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Derbyshire|first1=J. |last2=Wright |first2=G. |year=2014 |title=Preparing for the future: development of an 'antifragile' methodology that complements scenario planning by omitting causation |journal=Technological Forecasting and Social Change|volume=82 |pages=215–225 |doi=10.1016/j.techfore.2013.07.001 |url=https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/52933/1/Derbyshire_Wright_TFSC2014_methodology_that_complements_scenario_planning_by_omitting_causation.pdf}}</ref>