Summary of Peter L. Bernstein's Against the Gods

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 Gambling has been a popular pastime and often an addiction for thousands of years. It was a game of chance that inspired Pascal and Fermat's revolutionary breakthrough into the laws of probability, not some profound question about the nature of capitalism or visions of the future.

#2 The most addictive forms of gambling are the pure games of chance played at the casinos that are now spreading like wildfire through American communities. The New York Times reported in September 1995 that state governments pay three dollars in costs to social agencies and the criminal justice system for every dollar of revenue they take in from the casinos.

#3 The law of averages does not apply to games of chance. Gamblers believe that the odds will bring their losing streaks to a quick end, but the law of averages does not hear them.

#4 The Greeks, who were the most civilized of all the ancients, had little interest in applying theory to any sort of technology that would have changed their views of the manageability of the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669374763

IRB Media

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Insights on Peter L. Bernstein's Against the Gods

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Gambling has been a popular pastime and often an addiction for thousands of years. It was a game of chance that inspired Pascal and Fermat's revolutionary breakthrough into the laws of probability, not some profound question about the nature of capitalism or visions of the future.

#2

The most addictive forms of gambling are the pure games of chance played at the casinos that are now spreading like wildfire through American communities. The New York Times reported in September 1995 that state governments pay three dollars in costs to social agencies and the criminal justice system for every dollar of revenue they take in from the casinos.

#3

The law of averages does not apply to games of chance. Gamblers believe that the odds will bring their losing streaks to a quick end, but the law of averages does not hear them.

#4

The Greeks, who were the most civilized of all the ancients, had little interest in applying theory to any sort of technology that would have changed their views of the manageability of the future.

#5

The Greeks did not develop a methodical approach to risk, as they did not believe that order could be found in the chaotic nature of day-to-day existence. They believed that order only existed in the skies, where the planets and stars regularly appeared in their appointed places with an unmatched regularity.

#6

The search for a better life on earth continued, and by the year 1000, Christians were sailing great distances, meeting new peoples, and encountering new ideas. Then came the Crusades, a seismic culture shock.

#7

The Arabic numbering system, which was used to make calculations, was not enough to transform Europe. It took the arrival of the Europeans to bring about the change in how Europe measured and counted.

#8

The growth of trade and commerce, along with the new sense of opportunity, led to a dramatic acceleration in the growth of capitalism. capitalism could not have flourished without two new activities that had been unnecessary so long as the future was a matter of chance or God's will.

#9

The story of numbers in the West begins in 1202, when the cathedral of Chartres was nearing completion and King John was finishing his third year on the throne of England. In that year, a book titled Liber Abaci, or Book of the Abacus, appeared in