Nassim N. Taleb: Everything these idiots, frauds, and assholes don't understand

Nassim N. Taleb: Everything these idiots, frauds, and assholes don't understand

Nassim Taleb, what a mensch. He's got the confidence of a bull in a china shop that has just bought a lycra muscle-shirt and knows it looks great on him.

Our guru this week has surveyed the fields of statistics, economics, psychology, actually all of the social sciences, and finds them populated by a gaggle of pale, thin wristed, pocket-protector wearing wimps. Although, he's equally scathing towards COVID-sceptical libertarians, and Matt and Chris (in a totally unbiased manner) find him pretty funny and accurate there.

More seriously, Taleb is a smart guy and quite fun to read and listen to. But he's also an infinite singularity of arrogance and hyperbole. Matt and Chris can't help but notice how convenient this pose is, when confronted with difficult-to-handle rebuttals.

Taleb is a fun mixed bag of solid and dubious claims. But it's worth thinking about the degree to which those solid ideas were already well... solid. Many seem to have been known for decades even by all the 'morons, frauds and assholes' that Taleb hates.

To what degree does Taleb's reputation rest on hyperbole and intuitive-sounding hot-takes? Will he ever un-block the co-hosts on twitter? Should Matt, a statistician and psychologist, re-train in a field where he can actually contribute something useful to the world?

All of these questions, and more, will remain unanswered in this fresh new DTG episode!

Links


Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(262)

Supplementary Material 55: Nature Debates, Murder Drone Conspiracies, and Podcast Vibes

Supplementary Material 55: Nature Debates, Murder Drone Conspiracies, and Podcast Vibes

Two academic windbags attempt brief discussions of the controversy at Nature, Bret’s newest conspiracy theory, and the latest vibe sessions in Podcastistan. It goes about as well as expected.The full ...

8 Sep 34min

Mel Robbins, Part 2: Matt & Chris manifest their fully actualised future selves

Mel Robbins, Part 2: Matt & Chris manifest their fully actualised future selves

In Part Two of our decoding of Mel Robbins, things take a practical turn. But before we get to preoccupied with all that, why don't you pause, take a breath, and, in the context of your body, write do...

30 Aug 1h 42min

Supplementary Material 54:  Solarpunk Pecan Pie, Northern Irish Sushi, & the Discourse Meat Grinder

Supplementary Material 54:  Solarpunk Pecan Pie, Northern Irish Sushi, & the Discourse Meat Grinder

We return from our holidays with an indulgent episode that starts light and ends up very dark as we turn to the unavoidable Jason Arday discourse.The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (...

28 Aug 41min

Mel Robbins, Part 1: The Hard Science of Manifestation

Mel Robbins, Part 1: The Hard Science of Manifestation

Are you tired, stuck, or inconveniently constrained by reality? Good news: you may simply be imagining the wrong one.In Part One of our decoding of Mel Robbins, we explore the world of a self-help mog...

25 Aug 2h 4min

Jimmy Carr & Joe Rogan: The Jester & the Khan

Jimmy Carr & Joe Rogan: The Jester & the Khan

Joe Rogan, the Great Khan of podcasting, is once again receiving a travelling jester at court. This time it is Jimmy Carr who arrives bearing gifts: pop evolutionary psychology, dubious history factoi...

17 Aug 2h 54min

Lab Leak Groundhog Day: COVID Origins in 2026 with Worobey, Andersen, and Holmes

Lab Leak Groundhog Day: COVID Origins in 2026 with Worobey, Andersen, and Holmes

With the Trump administration’s newest political persecution of Anthony Fauci and three years after our first lab-leak special, now seemed like a useful time to return to the topic. Fortunately, you d...

10 Aug 1h 44min

Supplementary Material 53: Matthew the Succulent, Bin-faced Politicians, and Very Very Tired Economists

Supplementary Material 53: Matthew the Succulent, Bin-faced Politicians, and Very Very Tired Economists

We endure the ravages of time to deliver you this exhausted Supplementary Material. Bowed but never broken, the decoders persist.The full episode is available to Patreon subscribers (Full Episode: 2hr...

21 Jul 31min

Supplementary Material 52: Under-Optimized Academics, Tired Economists, and Bailiwick Clarifications

Supplementary Material 52: Under-Optimized Academics, Tired Economists, and Bailiwick Clarifications

Two absolutely shattered academic heroes heroically drag themselves through yet another supplementary episode to bring you the important guru news in between their restorative breaks.The full episode ...

9 Jul 22min

Populært innen Vitenskap

fastlegen
romkapsel
tingenes-tilstand
jss
rekommandert
liberal-halvtime
forskningno
villmarksliv
rss-paradigmepodden
sinnsyn
vett-og-vitenskap-med-gaute-einevoll
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
fjellsportpodden
tidlose-historier
rss-rekommandert
rss-overskuddsliv
nevropodden
dekodet-2
rss-inn-til-kjernen-med-sunniva-rose
aldring-og-helse-podden