Gamal, 500 years from now OUR philosophers and thinkers, even so wise as Peter Singer and (pun not intended) Steven Wise, will be seen as backward and full of superstitions. But that's no reason to accept prosecuting them for expressing their beliefs.

QuoteOriginally posted by: GamalNone of them, I don't care about this person. It happened so long time ago, that poor fellow would be dead by now anyway.I hope you leave Jimmy J. out of the discussion.

QuoteOriginally posted by: UltravioletGamal, 500 years from now OUR philosophers and thinkers, even so wise as Peter Singer and (pun not intended) Steven Wise, will be seen as backward and full of superstitions.So - if I consider these two gentlemen backward and full of superstitions, will I be a thinker of the future?

QuoteOriginally posted by: GamalQuoteOriginally posted by: UltravioletGamal, 500 years from now OUR philosophers and thinkers, even so wise as Peter Singer and (pun not intended) Steven Wise, will be seen as backward and full of superstitions.So - if I consider these two gentlemen backward and full of superstitions, will I be a thinker of the future?No, now or in the future, you will be just a pain in the arse.

I don't see "envy" as the right word though I can see why it is used because I don't know of an English word that works for what I interpret as his feelings.He sees people who he feels are basically wrong being taken seriously and helping make big decisions. Certainly he feels he can do them better, but does not particularly want to make them himself, which is why I don't see "envy" as the right word.I think one aspect of his attitude is that of someone debugging code, he has spotted a class of bug in people's thinking and wants to apply code fixes, but is frustrated from doing so, anyone who has programmed in teams will recognise this.That doesn't mean he wants to execute the code himself or even use the software, he just wants to patch it, or in some cases throw it away.NNT is not in his heart someone who values consensus as much as most professional academics. That's partly character and partly evolutionary politics.He's achieved "fuck off money".Progress within academia and those who advise on big decisions is a political process where those that build and work within consensus prosper at the expense of those who can't or don't want to. NNT has largely short circuited that, he does'nt need to publish or perish and if he so outraged his current university that they ended their current relationship, it would actually have the net effect of increasing his wealth since he'd have more time to publish bestselling books and making occasional appearances at events.Of course he doesn't need that money either...So the better question is what does he want ?

A crusader?

QuoteOriginally posted by: DominicConnorI don't see "envy" as the right word though I can see why it is used because I don't know of an English word that works for what I interpret as his feelings.He sees people who he feels are basically wrong being taken seriously and helping make big decisions. Certainly he feels he can do them better, but does not particularly want to make them himself, which is why I don't see "envy" as the right word.I think one aspect of his attitude is that of someone debugging code, he has spotted a class of bug in people's thinking and wants to apply code fixes, but is frustrated from doing so, anyone who has programmed in teams will recognise this.That doesn't mean he wants to execute the code himself or even use the software, he just wants to patch it, or in some cases throw it away.NNT is not in his heart someone who values consensus as much as most professional academics. That's partly character and partly evolutionary politics.He's achieved "fuck off money".Progress within academia and those who advise on big decisions is a political process where those that build and work within consensus prosper at the expense of those who can't or don't want to. NNT has largely short circuited that, he does'nt need to publish or perish and if he so outraged his current university that they ended their current relationship, it would actually have the net effect of increasing his wealth since he'd have more time to publish bestselling books and making occasional appearances at events.Of course he doesn't need that money either...So the better question is what does he want ?Good analysis! And the fact that he has "fuck off money" and doesn't need consensus is exactly why those in "the system" dislike and distrust him. Consensus-oriented people and systems hate those that don't agree with the consensus.

QuoteOriginally posted by: DominicConnorI don't see "envy" as the right word though I can see why it is used because I don't know of an English word that works for what I interpret as his feelings.He sees people who he feels are basically wrong being taken seriously and helping make big decisions. Certainly he feels he can do them better, but does not particularly want to make them himself, which is why I don't see "envy" as the right word.I think one aspect of his attitude is that of someone debugging code, he has spotted a class of bug in people's thinking and wants to apply code fixes, but is frustrated from doing so, anyone who has programmed in teams will recognise this.That doesn't mean he wants to execute the code himself or even use the software, he just wants to patch it, or in some cases throw it away.NNT is not in his heart someone who values consensus as much as most professional academics. That's partly character and partly evolutionary politics.He's achieved "fuck off money".Progress within academia and those who advise on big decisions is a political process where those that build and work within consensus prosper at the expense of those who can't or don't want to. NNT has largely short circuited that, he does'nt need to publish or perish and if he so outraged his current university that they ended their current relationship, it would actually have the net effect of increasing his wealth since he'd have more time to publish bestselling books and making occasional appearances at events.Of course he doesn't need that money either...So the better question is what does he want ?What every public intellectual wants: fame, relevance and influence

QuoteOriginally posted by: DominicConnorSo the better question is what does he want ?That's an interesting question. It reminds me a story that I heard from one movie producer. Hes was whining that big studios in Hollywood like to produce Battman_j for j=1,...,infinity; and character driven stories don't get enough funding. But then every once in a while some rich dude shows up with a check for a couple million bucks and the only thing that this dude wants to do is "star fucking". That's a term common in movie industry. Write a check with a reasonable amount and you can do Susan Sarandon, add another 100K and they will throw in Tom Hanks. Of course it will be presented as an independent movie project. Anyway, I believe, Mr. NNT desires to do some kind of "star fucking", without writing a check.

QuoteOriginally posted by: Traden4Alphahe has "fuck off money" and doesn't need consensusEvery black dude in front of the liquor store has fuck-off money. It is a lot easier to tell people to fuck off than you think.

QuoteOriginally posted by: farmerEvery black dude in front of the liquor store has fuck-off money.As we know, only black dudes stand in front of liquor stores. White dudes run hedge funds.

QuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaAs we know, only black dudes stand in front of liquor stores. White dudes run hedge funds.You, know, things have changed recently there are black dudes running White House, trying to make sure that white dudes who run hedge funds pay their fair share of taxes.

QuoteOriginally posted by: DominicConnor<brSo the better question is what does he want ?He wants policy makers, governments to heed his advice. The problem is doing so will cause a recession and the destruction of trillions of wealth. Until he proposes sensible, pragmatic ideas he's going to remain on the fringe even if he's very popular in various libertarian circles. Although on his website he says he's not seeking the media, he does want recognition; otherwise he wouldn't be constantly doing TV appearances, book signings, talks etc. And then there's the obvious conflict of interest in that he would stand the reap enormous windfalls for the adoption of 'anti-fragile' policy. Yes' let's end the fed so the Dow will fall limit down and i'll make 30 million.

An oldie but a goodie - captures some of the pathos and pomposityNNT educates a quant

HBR really like TalebQuoteBut Taleb has bigger game than Keynes and his followers in his crosshairs. He is really asserting a point of view that aligns him with Seneca, Montaigne, Hume and other "reasonable" thinkers, and against the pure "rationalizers" that descended from Aristotle through DescartesQuoteCan I say whether he is right at every turn? Certainly, I am unqualified to evaluate Taleb's use of statistics and probability (few are, to judge from the long list of technical papers on his CV)