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

Decoding the Gurus

Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne

Science, Leisure, Social Sciences, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2021

⏱️ 108 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're going to be. Hello and welcome to Decoding the Guru's the podcast where an anthropologist and a psychologist
0:20.8	listen to the greatest minds the world has to offer and we try our very best to understand what they're talking about.
0:27.0	I'm Professor Matt Brown with me is Dr. Chris Kavanaugh and I should say I'm also a doctor, but in addition to being a doctor, I'm also a professor, which Chris is not.
0:37.0	Hi Chris.
0:38.0	Is that true? Aren't I a professor? I'm like an associate professor.
0:42.0	Oh, damn. All all right but just to be clear which is better
0:46.1	professor or associate professor. Better math it's all you don't need to be so competitive, but yeah.
0:53.2	But like the whole academic hierarchy always confuses me
0:57.1	because I shouldn't use the title Prof.
1:00.3	Like I should not do that.
1:02.0	It's doctor. But somebody is using the title of PROF.
1:06.0	Yes, it is confusing. I think you can call yourself anything you like on social media and in an email.
1:12.0	I think that's the rule. I was abbreviated to
1:14.6	Ask Pro. That's how it gets a pretty fit.
1:18.0	Ars Pro. Yeah, As Pro. Ask Pro.
1:20.0	Not. Oh,
1:23.3	Oh, Arts Pro, right, Assistant Professor.
1:25.8	God.
1:26.8	Yeah, that's how it gets abbreviated here, which is, you know.
1:29.0	Anyway, so we're going to be reviewing a wonderful man,
1:34.6	Nassim Nicholas Taleb today.
1:36.6	But before we do, we're not going to do too much
	...

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