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After having seen Talebs Twitter feed, I can't take him serious. He might have (had) some good ideas, but I find it really hard to trust the judgment of a perso

After having seen Talebs Twitter feed, I can't take him serious. He might have (had) some good ideas, but I find it really hard to trust the judgment of a person who berates others on Twitter (e.g. he calls Pinker a charlatan) and think hes the only genius around. And it also seems that people like Pinker don't take him serious anymore (which seems to aggravate him even more). PS: http://quixoticfinance.com/empty-statistics/ http://quixoticfinance.com/empty-statistics/ talks about the Taleb-Pinker feud and rebukes Taleb.

swanson 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_policing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_policing
tcbawo 8y ago
He strikes me as the sort of person that loves confrontation. He's a raging narcissist, but he's also brilliant and highly opinionated. I find that I often disagree with him, but I appreciate his perspective. I don't much like when he bullies people in a public forum, since his followers will continue to harrass those individuals.
sheepmullet 8y ago
> but I find it really hard to trust the judgment of a person who berates others on Twitter Feuds between intellectuals have been a staple for decades. You are letting personality problems obscure insights.
- niklasd 8y ago
  Not so sure about that. I'm using a heuristic method. Since I'm not a statistics expert and sometimes can't properly assess Talebs statements, I ask myself: "Can I trust the judgement of this person?". Looking at the way he feuds with others (feuds between intellectuals don't all include crude insults), I feel that a person with proper judgement wouldn't behave that way. The same goes for his academic standing, which seems to be poor. These are two red flags. This said, that doesn't mean he won't offer insight. It just that since I don't have time to read everything, I'll use my heuristic method to look for potential places for insight. In this case it would rather lead me to Pinker et al.
  - sheepmullet 8y ago
    > I feel that a person with proper judgement wouldn't behave that way. Then my question to you would be why do you feel that? Is it based on evidence? Many of the worlds greatest scientists and philosophers have been jerks e.g. Aristotle was a massive sexist. Or look at the long list of geniuses who were unstable like Galois. Taleb has always put his money where his mouth is - to me that's a better indicator than poor manners.
    - niklasd 8y ago
      > Then my question to you would be why do you feel that? Is it based on evidence? Well signaling is a thing thats been developed since humanity exists. For me thats evidence enough. If singaling would be inefficent, it would not still be such an important factor in human interaction. It's the same with job interviews. No matter how smart you are, you better be on time and show some manners. Because if you don't, you'll be asked: "If you are that smart, why don't you understand that you are not getting a job this way?" and frankly, there's not a good anwser to that.
      - sheepmullet 8y ago
        > If singaling would be inefficent, it would not still be such an important factor in human interaction. That really depends. If you avoid a bad hire 10% of the time by rejecting everyone who is late then that can be a good trade off for you even though you have rejected many great candidates. There is a significant cost to a bad hire. On the other hand you can read a chapter of a book at your local library for free and for a minimal time investment and then decide if you want to keep reading it. I'd rate Talebs work as significantly more influential and insightful than Pinkers although I agree with Pinker more often.

swanson 8y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_policing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_policing

tcbawo 8y ago

He strikes me as the sort of person that loves confrontation. He's a raging narcissist, but he's also brilliant and highly opinionated. I find that I often disagree with him, but I appreciate his perspective. I don't much like when he bullies people in a public forum, since his followers will continue to harrass those individuals.

sheepmullet 8y ago

> but I find it really hard to trust the judgment of a person who berates others on Twitter Feuds between intellectuals have been a staple for decades. You are letting personality problems obscure insights.

niklasd 8y ago
Not so sure about that. I'm using a heuristic method. Since I'm not a statistics expert and sometimes can't properly assess Talebs statements, I ask myself: "Can I trust the judgement of this person?". Looking at the way he feuds with others (feuds between intellectuals don't all include crude insults), I feel that a person with proper judgement wouldn't behave that way. The same goes for his academic standing, which seems to be poor. These are two red flags. This said, that doesn't mean he won't offer insight. It just that since I don't have time to read everything, I'll use my heuristic method to look for potential places for insight. In this case it would rather lead me to Pinker et al.
- sheepmullet 8y ago
  > I feel that a person with proper judgement wouldn't behave that way. Then my question to you would be why do you feel that? Is it based on evidence? Many of the worlds greatest scientists and philosophers have been jerks e.g. Aristotle was a massive sexist. Or look at the long list of geniuses who were unstable like Galois. Taleb has always put his money where his mouth is - to me that's a better indicator than poor manners.
  - niklasd 8y ago
    > Then my question to you would be why do you feel that? Is it based on evidence? Well signaling is a thing thats been developed since humanity exists. For me thats evidence enough. If singaling would be inefficent, it would not still be such an important factor in human interaction. It's the same with job interviews. No matter how smart you are, you better be on time and show some manners. Because if you don't, you'll be asked: "If you are that smart, why don't you understand that you are not getting a job this way?" and frankly, there's not a good anwser to that.
    - sheepmullet 8y ago
      > If singaling would be inefficent, it would not still be such an important factor in human interaction. That really depends. If you avoid a bad hire 10% of the time by rejecting everyone who is late then that can be a good trade off for you even though you have rejected many great candidates. There is a significant cost to a bad hire. On the other hand you can read a chapter of a book at your local library for free and for a minimal time investment and then decide if you want to keep reading it. I'd rate Talebs work as significantly more influential and insightful than Pinkers although I agree with Pinker more often.