4 ms·

I totally agree with the core sentiment here, but I'm not sure this long-winded and moderately pretentious rant conveys much beyond "don't judge a book by it's

I totally agree with the core sentiment here, but I'm not sure this long-winded and moderately pretentious rant conveys much beyond "don't judge a book by it's cover." I would encourage others to skip the long read.

jstewartmobile 10y ago
I don't know... usually when Taleb's being boorish to the point of putting the book down, he'll lay down a "Black Swan" of insight that makes it all worthwhile.
- nolemurs 10y ago
  You know, I read through the whole article. I even agreed with pretty much all of it. I didn't run into anything I found particularly insightful. Actually, I kind of feel like the reasoning in this article can be profitably applied to Taleb's own image management.
  - sjg007 10y ago
    I mean this is the contrarian mindset which if we believe in startup land is how you find success. Models for success: find some niche and grow it (kind of a contradiction); develop some new technology; or X is broken; copy X from market A and paste in market B (where X is not).
  - bbctol 10y ago
    In a weird way, that's sort of the reason to read Taleb. It's about 90% posturing and sophist bullshit and 10% legitimate insight, but at least the insight is "90% of the time intellectuals are just posturing and spouting sophist bullshit." Maybe he's making some meta-demonstration, though more likely he's just really self-unaware, but I've still found it worth reading enough until you realize why you can discount most of it.
savanaly 10y ago
It conveys more than "don't judge a book by its cover." It is making the stronger point that not only are people who are unkempt in their appearance just as likely to be good at their job, they're more likely to be good at their job. He explains a model that this prediction falls out of: where there is competition between professionals and they can either get their status through expertise, superficial preening, or some combination thereof. Most people think those two traits go hand in hand but he's making the point that due to competition they might be anti-correlated.
- scott_s 10y ago
  It's also a model supported only by anecdote.
  - peeters 10y ago
    And then even anecdotally counters his own point by saying Trump's behavior as president is somehow to his credit. As if it's all a matter of theatrics and perception, and not what he's actually done.
eplanit 10y ago
I agree. It's almost self parody: what appears to be a thoughtful and thorough exploration of the topic is really just a long winded restatement of that wisdom. That said, maybe people can reconsider buying that next pair of hipster glasses[1]. 1. https://www.google.com/search?q=hipster+glasses&espv=2&biw=1180&bih=969&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjBj8X8o6nSAhUqjFQKHVYxAyYQ_AUIBigB https://www.google.com/search?q=hipster+glasses&espv=2&biw=1...

jstewartmobile 10y ago

I don't know... usually when Taleb's being boorish to the point of putting the book down, he'll lay down a "Black Swan" of insight that makes it all worthwhile.

nolemurs 10y ago
You know, I read through the whole article. I even agreed with pretty much all of it. I didn't run into anything I found particularly insightful. Actually, I kind of feel like the reasoning in this article can be profitably applied to Taleb's own image management.
- sjg007 10y ago
  I mean this is the contrarian mindset which if we believe in startup land is how you find success. Models for success: find some niche and grow it (kind of a contradiction); develop some new technology; or X is broken; copy X from market A and paste in market B (where X is not).
- bbctol 10y ago
  In a weird way, that's sort of the reason to read Taleb. It's about 90% posturing and sophist bullshit and 10% legitimate insight, but at least the insight is "90% of the time intellectuals are just posturing and spouting sophist bullshit." Maybe he's making some meta-demonstration, though more likely he's just really self-unaware, but I've still found it worth reading enough until you realize why you can discount most of it.

savanaly 10y ago

It conveys more than "don't judge a book by its cover." It is making the stronger point that not only are people who are unkempt in their appearance just as likely to be good at their job, they're more likely to be good at their job. He explains a model that this prediction falls out of: where there is competition between professionals and they can either get their status through expertise, superficial preening, or some combination thereof. Most people think those two traits go hand in hand but he's making the point that due to competition they might be anti-correlated.

scott_s 10y ago
It's also a model supported only by anecdote.
- peeters 10y ago
  And then even anecdotally counters his own point by saying Trump's behavior as president is somehow to his credit. As if it's all a matter of theatrics and perception, and not what he's actually done.

eplanit 10y ago

I agree. It's almost self parody: what appears to be a thoughtful and thorough exploration of the topic is really just a long winded restatement of that wisdom. That said, maybe people can reconsider buying that next pair of hipster glasses[1]. 1. https://www.google.com/search?q=hipster+glasses&espv=2&biw=1180&bih=969&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjBj8X8o6nSAhUqjFQKHVYxAyYQ_AUIBigB https://www.google.com/search?q=hipster+glasses&espv=2&biw=1...