Side note, I know Taleb is widely appreciated, but man this is some badly written stuff. Is all his stuff like this? I realize blog post != book, but c’mon, some pride in craftmanship is in order.
I think the most bitter part is him taking pride in his “real life” intelligence and his condemnation of test takers as “lifeless bureaucrats who can muster sterile motivation”. There is a callous hubris there, I suspect fueled by resentment of past interactions with quacks and/or holier than thou academics, the remedy isn’t becoming holier than thou in turn.
Sneering is fun/cathartic, othering less so.
NOTE: As a mindless drone pencil pusher myself, prone to to investigate things that don’t clearly matter immediately to the “real world”; I might be a tad defensive here ^^.
@pja@dgerard Taleb’s like that with just about anyone he dislikes for whatever reason tho, so it’s not just about high-end stats or the caliper-curious.
Side note, I know Taleb is widely appreciated, but man this is some badly written stuff. Is all his stuff like this? I realize blog post != book, but c’mon, some pride in craftmanship is in order.
yes, way too much of it is. Taleb is extremely smart, but nobody is as smart as Taleb thinks he is.
I think the most bitter part is him taking pride in his “real life” intelligence and his condemnation of test takers as “lifeless bureaucrats who can muster sterile motivation”. There is a callous hubris there, I suspect fueled by resentment of past interactions with quacks and/or holier than thou academics, the remedy isn’t becoming holier than thou in turn.
Sneering is fun/cathartic, othering less so.
NOTE: As a mindless drone pencil pusher myself, prone to to investigate things that don’t clearly matter immediately to the “real world”; I might be a tad defensive here ^^.
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@dgerard or as insufferable. I couldn’t get more than half a chapter into Black Swan because his writing style was so damned offputting.
he really gives off that condensed “stick it to the man” vibe
All the same content is in fooled by randomness and it’s far far shorter
High-end stats is kind of Taleb’s thing, so he gets to be as insufferable as he likes dunking on IQiots imo.
@pja @dgerard Taleb’s like that with just about anyone he dislikes for whatever reason tho, so it’s not just about high-end stats or the caliper-curious.
Unfortunately he is an atrocious narcissist
Yeah, he needs an editor. But the relentless dunking on IQiots is worth the verbiage imo.