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Unfortunately, Taleb being an enormous asshole does not actually negate this paper or any of his other formal arguments. I agree people would be more receptive

Unfortunately, Taleb being an enormous asshole does not actually negate this paper or any of his other formal arguments. I agree people would be more receptive if he wasn't a egotistical jerk, but the ironic thing is people dismissing his work because he called them an IYI is just the other side of the fragile ego coin.

civilized 5y ago
I'd be fine with him being an asshole if the quality of his thought were higher. His perspectives are rarely original and often poorly explained, especially if the topic is technical. Unfortunately people get the impression that he's some kind of genius because he's an intellectual celebrity who's bad at explaining his technical ideas (so they must be super deep). He's at his best with "black swan" and "skin in the game" type stuff - aphoristic, lyrical, qualitative philosophical musing that evokes the best of traditional schools of thought.
- tor11 5y ago
  This.
waffle_maniac 5y ago
Except the real experts in the field don't think much of him. Part of being validated is having the respect of your peers. That's why it's so easy to toss out the opinions of rogue antivax scientists.
- gooseus 5y ago
  I'd be interested in reading which of his peers in which fields have invalidated which of his ideas. Any links appreciated. What's interesting about Taleb is that given his takes on GMOs and "naive interventionism" he seems to have been advocating quite strongly for COVID vaccination against people that have tried to use his ideas to argue against it. It would have been so easy for him to use "antifragility" to follow so many other pubic intellectuals who saw an opportunity to promote their "heterodox" brand and gather followers advocating for natural immunity and other remedies.
- druadh 5y ago
  Thank you for letting me know! Kind of gives me hope for the rest of the field
MrMan 5y ago
Taleb is a polemicist, and knows how to use language that feels formal enough to his audience. I dont put any weight behind what he says about crypto currencies.

civilized 5y ago

I'd be fine with him being an asshole if the quality of his thought were higher. His perspectives are rarely original and often poorly explained, especially if the topic is technical. Unfortunately people get the impression that he's some kind of genius because he's an intellectual celebrity who's bad at explaining his technical ideas (so they must be super deep). He's at his best with "black swan" and "skin in the game" type stuff - aphoristic, lyrical, qualitative philosophical musing that evokes the best of traditional schools of thought.

tor11 5y ago
This.

waffle_maniac 5y ago

Except the real experts in the field don't think much of him. Part of being validated is having the respect of your peers. That's why it's so easy to toss out the opinions of rogue antivax scientists.

gooseus 5y ago
I'd be interested in reading which of his peers in which fields have invalidated which of his ideas. Any links appreciated. What's interesting about Taleb is that given his takes on GMOs and "naive interventionism" he seems to have been advocating quite strongly for COVID vaccination against people that have tried to use his ideas to argue against it. It would have been so easy for him to use "antifragility" to follow so many other pubic intellectuals who saw an opportunity to promote their "heterodox" brand and gather followers advocating for natural immunity and other remedies.
druadh 5y ago
Thank you for letting me know! Kind of gives me hope for the rest of the field

MrMan 5y ago

Taleb is a polemicist, and knows how to use language that feels formal enough to his audience. I dont put any weight behind what he says about crypto currencies.