Beyond the Bell Curve Re-Lies the Out-Liar
These are days when no one should rely unduly on his "competence." Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck left-handed.
— Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)
The Taleb Trampoline and the doGmatic ...
Beyond the Bell Curve Re-Lies the Out-Liar
These are days when no one should rely unduly on his "competence." Strength lies in improvisation. All the decisive blows are struck left-handed.
— Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)
The titled responsion is referring to the outliers with a play on words. Truthfully!
Ovid
Elsewhere and throughout my responsions with famous intellectuals of our past, I playfully repurpose the lies of our not-so-better nature with one particular resting state of homeostasis. This ambiguity is partially poetic and licenses the listener to slow her (or his) comprehension of the possibilities of multiple meanings. In this case, I couple a lie to a resting state of comfort that the predictability of the Gaussian curve that our cherished institution of Science so heavily depends. Thank God (so to speak) it's revisionary, giving the iterations of predictability the pathway to correct herself despite the irony of the almighty cameo.
Depending on which way you want to take this, I am calling Taleb a dictator of sorts, some, like Steven Pinker, say belligerent. Accused by Taleb as being a science writer, I thought the ideal response would be to thank Nassim for his compliment on Science writers everywhere and his woke epiphany of enlightened ignorance. Even a broken clock can be right twice a day! The particular brand of aesthetics that Taleb is preaching is more of an unapologetic apology of us versus them, where everyone that disagrees is a simpleton and not worthy of being (in his presence). I am saying it right here, if Pinker is a science writer, then Taleb is a comic, not of the stand-up variety but intellectually with the temperament of a two-year-old. Tantrum much?
Furthermore, I find it odd that a semi quasi worship following has captivated the likes of Eric Weinstein and Gad Sad et al. Without getting myself in trouble here, if either Eric or Gad happens to read this, I would add, take this point and ponder the truth of it. Gad enacts Taleb's shenanigans, whereas Weinstein plays the card, I predicted the economic collapse as well and should have been more like Taleb, damn, I lost my opportunity!. No response is required if you think I completely misinterpret your partial respect for a man whose visibility and following has been the result of insults and refusals to cooperate. This is an anomaly of sorts, Taleb has found a hack, Sad's sarcastic rhetoric, and I mean rhetoric without the pejorative, is great despite the grammatical redundancy. Sad's happy-go-lucky sarcastic persona is good enough without trying to impersonate the belligerence of Taleb's tantrums and endless ad hominems. Point well made without any need to replicate or mimic his buffoonery. Disagree? Let me leave you with two points. Point one, his point that our scientific community relies too much on the artificial protection and predictability of the bell curve, well that's only partially true. Yes, there is a heuristic to that method so he loses more points than he is given, especially when he endorses a conservative brand of religion and dogma as he does. Point two, he's just an asshole, so worship or respect him if you like but don't ask me to prostrate myself in the direction where the sun shines for me but not for him. I can see his tactics clearly. The sun doesn't shine on assholes unless you lie face down with your pant around your ankles. Who wants to follow that?
Taleb's Easy Way and Trampoline Tantrums - Abnormal Distributions
Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
— Albert Camus (1913-1960)
The titled responsion is in response to Norm, Albert, or Teleb (take your pick); tantrums are (apparently) permissible when they have some merit.
Jonathan Swift
A normal distribution would dictate that order requires energy, whereas entropy is effortless. Abnormal distributions are what I am referring to and the belligerence of one Nassim Taleb.
Knowledge Begets Awareness (of Ignorance)
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.
— Thomas Sowell (1930-present)
The titled responsion is begetful ignorance but does that make it more "akin" to a hand-me-down of genetic determinism? Come on, we both know better than that!
Jonathan Swift
Epistemological awareness awaits all who attempt categorizing a continuum. Keep Aristotle's multiple thought maxim in mind as you parse your own prejudices and balance your own biases.
Considering the other responsions, with matching memes at play here, Cicero condemns the man (idiot) stuck on behavioral repeat. Mistakes will be made; Christian branded forgiveness originated before the fiction of Christ. Those are my opinions. What are yours?
Sowell's perspective is historically retrospective. Clairvoyant? No. Pragmatically so! Careful not to alienate your humility to the certainty of certitude. Fictions fabricate outcomes and emphasize the fate of it all. This is the outcome of every tragedy. Ignorance is worth confronting, cognitive fall-off elevates cognitive affections and emotional orientations. Huh? I thought so! Those are my thoughts on Thomas Sowell; what are yours?
If you are still stuck, consider Martin Heidegger and Ezra Pound. Martin Heidegger offers his pathway to philosophy as a theologian. The former was a former Nazi party member turned "secret king of thought," while Ezra Pound wrote a series of essays intending to Make it New (1934). Better yet, let's make it new with regressions toward the mean, outlining compare and contrast the benefits of conforming with flock mentality.
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