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Why do [people] confuse probability and expectation, that is, probability [vs.] probability times payoff? Mainly because much... schooling comes from examples in symmetric environments... the... bell curve... is entirely symmetric.

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb Fooled by Randomness (2001)

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Education

More quotes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Ethical man accords his profession to his beliefs, instead of according his beliefs to his profession.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

An idea starts to be interesting when you get scared of taking it to its logical conclusion.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

You have a real life if and only if you do not compete with anyone in any of your pursuits.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

The weak shows his strength and hides his weaknesses; the magnificent exhibits his weaknesses like ornaments.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

To be completely cured of newspapers, spend a year reading the previous week’s newspapers.

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

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You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

Julian Assange

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

The greater part of humanity is too much harassed and fatigued by the struggle with want, to rally itself for a new and sterner struggle with error.

Friedrich Schiller On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1794)

Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.

Bertrand Russell

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Nassim Nicholas Taleb (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.