It's very difficult for me to separate the brilliant from the jerk in Taleb's writing. When he says "you can't make that inference because the distribution has

It's very difficult for me to separate the brilliant from the jerk in Taleb's writing. When he says "you can't make that inference because the distribution has a fat tail and you're a dumb fuck" I can't tell whether the sentiment embedded in this statement is clouding his judgement. So ultimately all the drama surrounding the brilliant jerk makes him far less useful than you might initially think.