The Drunkard's Walk
How Randomness Rules Our Lives
by Leonard Mlodinow · first published 2008
69% recommend31% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, math-light introduction to probability and the history of randomness, showing how luck, pattern-seeking and overconfidence distort judgments of success; suits general readers who liked Fooled by Randomness.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In this irreverent and illuminating book, acclaimed writer and scientist Leonard Mlodinow shows us how randomness, change, and probability reveal a tremendous amount about our daily lives, and how we misunderstand the significance of everything from a casual conversation to a major financial setback. As a result, successes and failures in life are often attributed to clear and obvious cases, when in actuality they are more profoundly influenced by chance.The rise and fall of your favorite movie star of the most reviled CEO--in fact, of all our destinies--reflects as much as planning and innat
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…Richard Thaler Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard - Chip and Dan Heath Economics: The Black Swan: Impact of the Highly Improbable - Nassim Taleb Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Taleb Drunkard's Walk - Leonard Mlodinow Psychology: Opening Skinner's Box - Lauren Slater Management: The Education of a Coach - David Halberstam
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗I read Mlodinow's book (The Drunkard's Walk) last year and really enjoyed it. Somewhat ironically, I seem to have become anchored around Kahneman & Tversky in terms of this line of research. Can someone recommend a good counterpoint? I'm looking…
on “Risk, probability, and how our brains are easily misled” ↗I wonder about these longevity clusters and whether they aren't just random. If you've read The Drunkard's Walk, (which I highly recommend by the way) there's a similar phenomenon with cancer clusters and the distribution of shells when the Germans were bombing London. In both cases people rushed to find some…
on “The Island Where People Forget to Die” ↗…misconception. Our brains are also somewhat intrinsically hardwired to intuit simple causes and effects, even when none truly exist. If you're interested in the topic, I highly recommend reading "The Drunkard's Walk" by Leonard Mlodinow. http://www.amazon.com/Drunkards-Walk-Randomness-Rules-Vintag...
on “Mark Cuban: The most patriotic thing you can do is "get rich"” ↗I've been listening to The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives[1] by Leonard Mlodinow. It is a great introduction to how probability works, the history of randomness and probability in science, and how randomness affects so much of…
on “Flipping 10 heads in a row - a small probability demonstration” ↗"The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives" http://www.amazon.com/The-Drunkards-Walk-Randomness-Rules/dp... was a great book that showed that not everything is under your control
on “Ask HN: Summer reading” ↗The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives This changed how I look at my life http://www.amazon.com/The-Drunkards-Walk-Randomness-Rules/dp...
on “Ask HN: What is the most mind blowing book you've ever read?” ↗The Drunkard's Walk by Mlodinow. Really reshaped how I perceive what happens in the world, in my job, in my life in general.
on “Ask HN: Which books do you wish you'd read earlier in life?” ↗"The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives" by Leonard Mlodinow seems topical based on the abstract. I would recommend it as a fairly quick read that presents a perspective you might not have thought much about.…
on “Talent vs. Luck: the role of randomness in success and failure” ↗The Drunkard's Walk [0], by Leonard Mlodinow, covers this and related topics brilliantly. Relevant excerpt: "..economists like W. Brian Arthur argue that a concurrence of minor factors can even lead companies with no particular…
on “Fundamental attribution error” ↗…in my personal life and I was even considering moving away from DC and maybe going away from gov sector work and contract work and trying to find a "regular" job, etc etc. I read this book called The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow, and it opened my eyes about probability. I decided to get my MSc in Statistics and I reworked basically my whole midgame-endgame strategy for my life.…
on “Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?” ↗Another take along similar lines can be found in the book The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, by Leonard Mlodinow. Highly recommend.
on “How to increase your surface area for luck” ↗…combined they make an interesting whole. I enjoyed some books that don’t have anything unknown in its parts but that brought a lot of shift in perspectives for me, such as “Man’s Worldly Goods”[1] and “The Drunkard’s Walk”[2]. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Worldly-Goods-Wealth-Nations/dp/... [2] https://www.amazon.com/Drunkards-Walk-Randomness-Rules-Lives...
on “AI tools are making the world look weird” ↗…that they all refer to the way people think. Barry Schwartz - The Paradox of Choice Steven Pinker - How the Mind Works Nassim Taleb - The Black Swan; and Fooled by Randomness Leonard Mlodinov - The Drunkard's Walk (quite similar to Fooled by Randomness) Carol Dweck - Mindset: The New Psychology of Success Neil Postman / Andrew Postman - Amusing Ourselves to Death Rolf Dobelli - The Art of Thinking Clearly (just…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2013?” ↗I've enjoyed two great books that discuss this: "The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/books/review/Johnson-G-t.h...) and "Fooled by Randomness" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fooled_by_Randomness) I think people dislike…
on “Michael Lewis: Don't Eat Fortune's Cookie” ↗