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There are now so many bullshit-terms derived from Taleb's bullshit books. Like how people still keep mentioning "black swans" as if it actually means something
by krick 2y ago
There are now so many bullshit-terms derived from Taleb's bullshit books. Like how people still keep mentioning "black swans" as if it actually means something other (or something more) than "unexpected event". And for some unfathomable reason it keeps traction. Similarly how Mandelbrot "redefined" (i.e. distorted) the meaning of "Lindy effect", and it stuck (however, I didn't notice if it became popular to call a millenia-old banality by than name after Mandelbrot, or Taleb again). It probably should serve as an another example of that if you are arrogant enough, people will follow you just because of that.
However, I guess "antifragility" isn't the worst of these.
- aaron695 2y ago[dead]
- nottorp 2y agoWhen I saw the title I thought it came out of one of those online bullshit generators...
- padolsey 2y agoI don't much mind the populurization of these terms or making people think in more novel ways. Even if it's seen as BS by those more informed, I'm glad such books are written and communicators like Taleb exist. Without him, I wouldn't have discovered a bunch of tangential things. I will admit, it gives my brain a satisfying itch too, as I realise that academia is often just the refined encoding of pretty mundane everyday truths, so when someone is able to come in and re-extract that and share it widely, even with a bit of gentle-re-branding, I think it's still net-positive.
- rramadass 2y agoWell said! As you point out; "making people think in more novel ways" (or making them think at all given the amount of parroting in the education system) is the usp of Taleb's books. People need to stop focusing on the attributes of the author (arrogant etc.) but instead need to learn to focus on the content of their writings.