What do the inventions of the wheels, Pompeii, the destruction of Wall Street, Harry Potter, and the Internet have in common? Why don't we actually have to chase buses and trains or read newspapers? Why are almost all forecasters of economic trends a braggart? This book is about Black Swan: the random events that underlie our lives, from the emergence of bestseller books to world disasters. The impact of these events was enormous, almost unpredictable; but once it happens, we always try to rationalize it. One example of Black Swan is the fall of the world stock market in 2008se something that has been sniffed out in this book. The Black Swan shows us why we should stop trying to predict everything and instead take advantage of uncertainty.