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> In his philosophy classes, arguments rested on logic and evidence; in his religion classes, “you could use a story to make an argument.” An interesting excer
by tikhonj 11y ago
> In his philosophy classes, arguments rested on logic and evidence; in his religion classes, “you could use a story to make an argument.”
An interesting excerpt that says a lot about the mindset that goes into his argument.
The core observation, I suppose, is that this is what's really pushing popular beliefs about diet, far more than logical argument. It makes sense to me, especially considering the character of opposition to gluten and GMOs.
- rguzman 11y agoWell, not all arguments against GMOs are stories. I'm thinking specifically of Taleb's argument: http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/pp2.pdf http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/pp2.pdf
- jrkelly 11y agoNice recent post on the "mathiness" of Taleb's paper: http://www.inexactchange.org/blog/2015/07/24/the-mathiness-of-nassim-nicholas-taleb/ http://www.inexactchange.org/blog/2015/07/24/the-mathiness-o... Best resource on GMOs remains this Grist series: http://grist.org/series/panic-free-gmos/ http://grist.org/series/panic-free-gmos/
- dylanjermiah 11y agoTaleb makes the classic mistake of an intellectual. Misapplying his field of expertise into another.
- jessaustin 11y agoSometimes it seems that sort of misapplication is his field of expertise. I say this having read and enjoyed three of his books. b^)
- nextos 11y agoI think he's not totally wrong. We're just starting to understand gene transfer among bacteria, which is very real. GMOs might open the door to some very unlikely but potentially devastating events.
- gaius 11y agoPhilosophers call stories "thought experiments" but they're the same thing.