“Time and space are absolute. Diseases are evil spirits that inhabit the body. Parallel lines never meet. The earth is the center of the universe. Children are miniature adults. At one time in history each of these beliefs was generally held to be true. Each, however, gave way to different ideas and even different world views.” WorldWayChildrenIdeasDifferentBodyEarthSpiritUniverseEvilBeliefLinesSpaceViewsDiseaseAdultsAbsolutesBeing TrueOne TimeTime And SpaceParallelsDifferent WorldsWorld ViewMiniaturesDifferent IdeasCenter Of The UniverseEvil SpiritsParallel Lines Book:Altering Fate: Why the Past Does Not Predict the Future Source: Altering Fate: Why the Past Does Not Predict the Future
“The model used by Wall Street to price trillions of dollar's worth of derivatives thought of the financial world as an orderly, continuous process. But the world was not continuous; it changed discontinuously, and often by accident.” WorldUsedProcessStreetsChangedWallModelsDollarsFinancialAccidentsOrderlyDerivatives Author:Michael Lewis
“People don't like uncertainty, and their minds are tools for making sense of the world, even when the world is senseless.” PeopleWorldMindToolsMake SenseUncertainty Author:Michael Lewis
“Just because you've been successful and just because you've disrupted an environment, doesn't mean you're a role model or that you actually have anything to teach anybody. There's an awful lot of luck and accident in the world, and maybe you were just on the receiving end of that.” WorldMeanEndsRolesTeachSuccessfulEnvironmentModelsLuckAccidentsAwfulRole ModelsReceiving Author:Michael Lewis
“If you had to point to one thing that made it less likely that the Red Sox would win the World Series, I would say it was those people that go to Fenway Park to watch the games. And then the media around it.” PeopleIfsWorldMadeGamesWinningWatchesOne ThingMediaRedSeriesMade ItParksWorld SeriesFenway Park Author:Michael Lewis
“People really don't like to hear success explained away as luck — especially successful people. As they age, and succeed, people feel their success was somehow inevitable. They don't want to acknowledge the role played by accident in their lives. There is a reason for this: the world does not want to acknowledge it either. If you use better data, you can find better values; there are always market inefficiencies to exploit, and so on. But it has a broader and less practical message: don't be deceived by life's outcomes. Life's outcomes, while not entirely random, have a huge amount of luck baked into them. Above all, recognize that if you have had success, you have also had luck — and with luck comes obligation.” PeopleWorldWantFeelsReasonAgeRolesSuccessfulHugeAmountSucceedLuckAccidentsObligationInevitableAcknowledgeOutcomesSuccessful PeopleDeceived Author:Michael Lewis
“The world clings to its old mental picture of the stock market because it’s comforting; because it’s so hard to draw a picture of what has replaced it; and because the few people able to draw it for you have no interest in doing so.” PeopleWorldHardAbleInterestDrawsOld ManReplacedComforting Author:Michael Lewis
“The sports world is an echo chamber. All it takes is one quote from a general manager and a thousand sports columns bloom.” WorldSportsThousandManagersEchoesChamberColumnsGeneral Manager Author:Michael Lewis
