On the Edge cover art

On the Edge

The Art of Risking Everything

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On the Edge

By: Nate Silver
Narrated by: Nate Silver
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise, the definitive guide to our era of risk—and the players raising the stakes

In the bestselling The Signal and the Noise, Nate Silver showed how forecasting would define the age of Big Data. Now, in this timely and riveting new book, Silver investigates "The River," or those whose mastery of risk allows them to shape—and dominate—so much of modern life.

These professional risk takers—poker players and hedge fund managers, crypto true-believers and blue-chip art collectors—can teach us much about navigating the uncertainty of the 21st century. By embedding within these worlds, Silver offers insight into a range of issues that affect us all, from the frontiers of finance to the future of AI.

The River has increasing amounts of wealth and power in our society, and understanding their mindset—including the flaws in their thinking—is key to understanding what drives technology and the global economy today. There are certain commonalities in this otherwise diverse group: high tolerance for risk; appreciation of uncertainty; affinity for numbers; skill at de-coupling; self-reliance and a distrust of the conventional wisdom. For the River, complexity is baked in, and the work is how to navigate it, without going beyond the pale.

Taking us behind-the-scenes from casinos to venture capital firms to meetings of the effective altruism movement, On the Edge is a deeply-reported, all-access journey into a hidden world of powerbrokers and risk takers.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Nate Silver (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Career Success Decision-Making & Problem Solving Mathematics Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Hedge Fund Inspiring Poker

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Critic reviews

Nate Silver is that very rare thing, a celebrity statistician… in a class of his own… As a guide to our dystopian future, in which everyone is busy updating their priors and sizing their bets, On the Edge is indispensable (Ian Sansom)
A clever look into a unique realm. An enlightening study of the people who play the game of risk and win (Kirkus Reviews (starred))
All stars
Most relevant  
A fascinating well written book taking the reader on a journey from the poker table to the probability of human extinction!

Mentally stimulating , scary and inspiring

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Great book from Silver, lots of interesting points and discussions. If you liked his first book, this will do the trick as well.

Another great book from Silver

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Found it a bit of a mess of many ideas he is trying to link with the River. Not a solid glue imo and much better books exist which detail each of these subjects.

Interesting ideas recycled from better specialist books

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This book's expected value is positive, but don't expect a jackpot. Still, good read. I'd skip the polical section.

EV positive

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Performance. First audiobook I've had to dial back the speed to 90% rather than up to 110%.

Overall there is far too much detail with a never ending spiel of betting anecdotes, to support each message. To the point that it becomes very dull and the point lost.

If you are after a lot of poker, sports betting and casino stories then you'll like this, but it doesn't deliver depth of risk and behaviour in a listenable condensed manner.

This book could be condensed to a pamplet.


A book that could be a pamphlet

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The first half is just awful stories about poker that don't set up the second half of the book as much as the author thinks they do. The second half has some mildly insightful comments on SBF but nothing that it was worth buying the book for. The author should not have read this book, he has a very dry tone which makes listening to the material very monotonous and difficult to follow. A professional narrator would have been better.

skip the first half of the book and don't listen to the audio book, read it

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