Skin in the Game review by Josh

Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Review by Josh80/100Read February 5, 2026

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Fuck, this guy Taleb irritates me.

He reminds me a bit of Slavoj Žižek. Both men seem like they crave nothing more than the adoration of the intellectual establishment, which they also argue is filled will craven idiots who can go to hell. Both have held various academic positions, including at my alma mater New York University (go violets!?)

What's irritating about Taleb is that: 1) He writes as though every banal claim he makes is divine writ. 2) He's utterly dismissive and contemptuous of 99% of the academic forebearers on whose shoulders he stands, and idiotically deferential to the handful of 'greats' who he's read. 3) He's often right.

The book merits four stars because original ideas are hard to come by, but it's still irritating AF to read and I wouldn't recommend it anyone.

About the book

The phrase "skin in the game" is one we have often heard but have rarely stopped to truly dissect. It is the backbone of risk management, but it's also an astonishingly complex worldview that, as Nassim Nicholas Taleb shows in this book, applies to literally all aspects of our lives. In his inimitable style, Taleb pulls on everything from Antaeus the Giant to Hammurabi to Donald Trump to Seneca to the ethics of disagreement to create a jaw-dropping tapestry for understanding our world in a brand new way. The phrase "skin in the game" means that you do not pay attention to what people say…

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