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For some perspective, think of all the notable people you can name. Not just the huge names, but people from your particular field / sub-field, etc. How many ma

For some perspective, think of all the notable people you can name. Not just the huge names, but people from your particular field / sub-field, etc. How many made this list and similarly useless ones? Like the Academy Awards, sometimes the out-group is better company. Even though he's an ass, I find Taleb's approach amusing. Copied from his webpage: > (Please refrain from offering honorary degrees, awards, listings in "100 most...",& similar debasements of knowledge that turn it into spectator sport).

misiti3780 7y ago
He's an ass for sure, but his commentary is spot on. Refreshing to hear in this fake-ass world we now all live in.
- coldtea 7y ago
  I think his main issue is being a little narcissistic and boastful, plus likes to be provocative and even insult. But I'd take all those from someone with actual substance and talent as Taleb, than the barrage of fake-ass (as you call it) PR content and pleasantries, on this fake-ass world we now all live in. In fact, I actively dislike the non-flaws (or just "admitted flaws" they're now "overcoming") "wholesome" all-too-decent people and writers, who never want to dirt their hands and have it good with everybody, and mostly produce trite of the TedX variety...
  - o09rdk 7y ago
    Eh. I admit I have a complex with Taleb. It's not just his narcissism per se, although there's that too: he's just wrong about a lot of stuff, and other times fails to recognize how old his ideas are. He gets over his head sometimes, assuming because it sprung forth in his head there haven't been 100s of other people working on it over the years who addressed whatever idea he had decades ago. Other times he's spot on. Usually it's not anything actually new, but he deserves some credit for being such a bulldog about it.
    - andreilys 7y ago
      Curious to hear which of his points you think are wrong?
      - o09rdk 7y ago
        I don't follow him regularly unless something he's saying comes up somehow, at which point I kinda look into him again. He's famous for lambasting psychology, some of which is deserved, but some of which is just ignorant. Earlier this year he started complaining about psychologists ignoring long-tailed/skewed distributions, which is so absurd and widely written about I don't even know where to start, as it's a basic corollary of a lot of modern models. He also selectively miscites literature; god forbid he should do a systematic meta-analysis. More of my concern is reinventing the wheel. I think he deserves a lot of credit for drawing attention to wrong models and assumptions in economics but model misspecification has been a topic that's been written about for decades in the statistics literature (e.g., "all models are wrong but some are useful", sandwich error estimators, pseudolikelihood ratio, model averaging, the work of Dawes, etc.). I agree with the general point he's making with these types of things, but his discussions would be a lot more interesting if he gave credit where it's due, expanding on others' past work rather than burying it. Mostly I wish he'd tone himself down a bit, to get his signal:noise ratio in a better place. But then maybe he wouldn't draw attention to some of these issues.
    - misiti3780 7y ago
      what is he wrong about from blank swan or antifragile (just curious)?
    - narcindin 7y ago
      I agree with your criticisms. But currently the world would be better if there were more people like him, not less.
ackbar03 7y ago
I have a lot of respect for taleb even though I think he lost his marbles after a certain point. His book dynamic hedging was like the Bible/textbook for my first job (structured products trading). The guy really knows his stuff. I think his mass-market type books like black swan and antifragile really diluted his reputation if anything, and now he acts like some crazy philosopher rather than someone who really knows his craft

misiti3780 7y ago

He's an ass for sure, but his commentary is spot on. Refreshing to hear in this fake-ass world we now all live in.

coldtea 7y ago
I think his main issue is being a little narcissistic and boastful, plus likes to be provocative and even insult. But I'd take all those from someone with actual substance and talent as Taleb, than the barrage of fake-ass (as you call it) PR content and pleasantries, on this fake-ass world we now all live in. In fact, I actively dislike the non-flaws (or just "admitted flaws" they're now "overcoming") "wholesome" all-too-decent people and writers, who never want to dirt their hands and have it good with everybody, and mostly produce trite of the TedX variety...
- o09rdk 7y ago
  Eh. I admit I have a complex with Taleb. It's not just his narcissism per se, although there's that too: he's just wrong about a lot of stuff, and other times fails to recognize how old his ideas are. He gets over his head sometimes, assuming because it sprung forth in his head there haven't been 100s of other people working on it over the years who addressed whatever idea he had decades ago. Other times he's spot on. Usually it's not anything actually new, but he deserves some credit for being such a bulldog about it.
  - andreilys 7y ago
    Curious to hear which of his points you think are wrong?
    - o09rdk 7y ago
      I don't follow him regularly unless something he's saying comes up somehow, at which point I kinda look into him again. He's famous for lambasting psychology, some of which is deserved, but some of which is just ignorant. Earlier this year he started complaining about psychologists ignoring long-tailed/skewed distributions, which is so absurd and widely written about I don't even know where to start, as it's a basic corollary of a lot of modern models. He also selectively miscites literature; god forbid he should do a systematic meta-analysis. More of my concern is reinventing the wheel. I think he deserves a lot of credit for drawing attention to wrong models and assumptions in economics but model misspecification has been a topic that's been written about for decades in the statistics literature (e.g., "all models are wrong but some are useful", sandwich error estimators, pseudolikelihood ratio, model averaging, the work of Dawes, etc.). I agree with the general point he's making with these types of things, but his discussions would be a lot more interesting if he gave credit where it's due, expanding on others' past work rather than burying it. Mostly I wish he'd tone himself down a bit, to get his signal:noise ratio in a better place. But then maybe he wouldn't draw attention to some of these issues.
  - misiti3780 7y ago
    what is he wrong about from blank swan or antifragile (just curious)?
  - narcindin 7y ago
    I agree with your criticisms. But currently the world would be better if there were more people like him, not less.

ackbar03 7y ago

I have a lot of respect for taleb even though I think he lost his marbles after a certain point. His book dynamic hedging was like the Bible/textbook for my first job (structured products trading). The guy really knows his stuff. I think his mass-market type books like black swan and antifragile really diluted his reputation if anything, and now he acts like some crazy philosopher rather than someone who really knows his craft