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(I'm the author) Starting with Taleb at a young age was helpful for me, as he introduced me to the Narrative Fallacy. I.e, the easiest way to convince anyone o

(I'm the author) Starting with Taleb at a young age was helpful for me, as he introduced me to the Narrative Fallacy. I.e, the easiest way to convince anyone of anything is to posit a causal chain with some neat story, and 95% of the population will absorb it uncritically (including me, at the time). I'm asked if I read Cal Newport a lot, and I can't stand him because he makes some good points, some trite points, then relies on the examples and stories. There's a place for them, but he does it in a way that I don't find compelling. I'm a bit sad that I didn't think of those three bullet points as I was writing this piece, as that's a great short list. It's also super funny that "Skin In The Game" is explicitly one of Taleb's books, the same author who inoculated me from the rest of the list, hah. Not that I think Skin In The Game is bad or anything, just a funny example.

skybrian 2y ago
Oddly, I think having concrete examples and storytelling are good, actually, and you do it a fair bit in your writing, drawing from your own experience. (I don't do that - my writing is all abstract arguments. I should use concrete examples, but have trouble thinking of them. That's why I'm writing critical comments in Internet forums and not blogging.) I get what you mean about how storytelling is sometimes a contrary indicator, though. When there is too much storytelling and the stories are too simple, it comes across as fake. I think the best writers want to tell stories with additional complexity even when it doesn't entirely fit the point they're trying to make, because the world isn't really story-shaped. Stories are better when they're not too polished and the author isn't afraid to include contrary evidence.
yellow_lead 2y ago
Thanks for the reply and article! I'm glad you like the bullets. There may be some better indicators out there still. I'll have to check out more taleb, I didn't know about the narrative fallacy.

skybrian 2y ago

Oddly, I think having concrete examples and storytelling are good, actually, and you do it a fair bit in your writing, drawing from your own experience. (I don't do that - my writing is all abstract arguments. I should use concrete examples, but have trouble thinking of them. That's why I'm writing critical comments in Internet forums and not blogging.) I get what you mean about how storytelling is sometimes a contrary indicator, though. When there is too much storytelling and the stories are too simple, it comes across as fake. I think the best writers want to tell stories with additional complexity even when it doesn't entirely fit the point they're trying to make, because the world isn't really story-shaped. Stories are better when they're not too polished and the author isn't afraid to include contrary evidence.

yellow_lead 2y ago

Thanks for the reply and article! I'm glad you like the bullets. There may be some better indicators out there still. I'll have to check out more taleb, I didn't know about the narrative fallacy.