Nobody reads the disclosures that roll down your computer screen. You click 'I agree' but you don't know what you're agreeing to.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Probability is not a mere computation of odds on the dice or more complicated variants; it is the acceptance of the lack of certainty in our knowledge and the development of methods for dealing with our ignorance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Probability teaches us to accept uncertainty and develop strategies to manage the unknown.
In this quote, Nassim Nicholas Taleb emphasizes that probability is not simply about calculating numerical odds; rather, it is fundamentally about acknowledging the inherent uncertainty in our understanding of the world. He advocates for a deeper comprehension of how to navigate our ignorance through probabilistic thinking, implying that life is filled with uncertainties that we must learn to embrace rather than ignore.
Themes
ProbabilityUncertaintyKnowledgeIgnoranceMethods
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about statistics, one might say, 'As Nassim Nicholas Taleb noted, probability is the acceptance of uncertainty.'
More from Nassim Nicholas Taleb
All quotes →Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Those who were unlucky in life in spite of their skills would eventually rise. The lucky fool might have benefited from some luck in life; over the longer run he would slowly converge to the state of a less-lucky idiot. Each one would revert to his long-term properties.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Individuals should think about the worst-case scenarios and plan for them. The world will be crazier than you think it will be. Put money away, and then you can live with much more freedom.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
A good maxim allows you to have the last word without even starting a conversation.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Similar quotes
Western liberal humanism is not something that comes naturally to us: like an appreciation of art or poetry, it has to be cultivated. Humanism is itself a religion without God-not all religions, of course, are theistic. Our ethical secular ideal has it's own disciplines of mind and heart and gives people the means of finding faith in the ultimate meaning of human life that were once provided by the more conventional religions.
Karen ArmstrongRead
The doctrine of foods is of great ethical and political significance. Food becomes blood, blood becomes heart and brain, thoughts and mind stuff. Human fare is the foundation of human culture and thought. Would you improve a nation? Give it, instead of declamations against sin, better food. Man is what he eats [Der Mensch ist, was er isst].
Ludwig FeuerbachRead
Once you see that everything is unreal, you can't see why you should bother to prove it.
Emile M. CioranRead
If everyone was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.
Mark TwainRead
I hold that without truth and nonviolence there can be nothing but destruction of humanity.
Mahatma GandhiRead
To ignore Scripture is to ignore Christ.
St. JeromeRead