Know more than you know

More Than You Know by Michael Mauboussin was introduced to me by a friend after I told him how much I enjoyed reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Some of the ideas that Taleb talks about in Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan can also be found in Mauboussin's book. (The version I read was the second edition, which consists of 38 short essays.) Reading them helped to clear up some thoughts encountered while reading Taleb, because there is a clear focus in the treatment of topics by Mauboussin. He introduces, explains and keeps his arguments concise.

I wouldn't claim to understand every aspect discussed in the book, but it is a good starting point for anyone interested in investing and finance, because it goes beyond the usual books about, say, fundamental or technical analysis only.

I must make this qualification about Taleb and Mauboussin: They belong to the category of distilled thinkers who encourage robust and diverse thinking by incorporating knowledge from disparate fields. It is always amusing to consider that it is the people who are dealing in a field as vulgar as high finance, who are encouraging investors and non-investors alike to build up an arsenal of analytical tools and to focus on the important information signals.

Perhaps having a lot of money (and occasionally a life or two) on the line has that effect of making people more thorough and wary of misinformation. And to crack their brains a little harder.