Monthly Archives: March 2017

#IRMA2017, Michael Spagat, Bielefeld, Monsanto, Nowruz, Nudging Class, #StopArmingTerrorists Act | Twitter

@nntaleb I bought your book BECAUSE of the fierceness of his negative review. @holland_tom Permalink 12:25 AM – 28 Mar 2017

@nntaleb .@holland_tom If true, this confirms he is an ethical asshole. He trashed you BECAUSE you preempted his thesis, not because you were wrong. Permalink 12:22 AM – 28 Mar 2017

@nntaleb “Der Intoleranteste gewinnt: Die Tyrannei der kleinen Minderheit” by Maximilian Hirnerhttps://medium.com/@Maximilian_H1/der-intoleranteste-gewinnt-die-tyrannei-der-kleinen-minderheit-22a738d56770   Permalink 12:05 AM – 28 Mar 2017

@DanielLMcAdams More truth you will never hear from US “fake news” MSM…https://twitter.com/TerrinaMajnoona/status/846588439797514242   Permalink 10:28 PM – 27 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Solution via Gruss’ inequality @CutTheKnotMath pic.twitter.com/3hl0nI9RdN Permalink 4:11 PM – 27 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Antifragile … in flipflops? No.https://twitter.com/npoler/status/846467958788501504   Permalink 2:16 PM – 27 Mar 2017

@nntaleb .@_khaaan Harassment with random comments is NOT scientific criticism. Permalink 11:49 AM – 27 Mar 2017

@PriancaMohan Such a good time at #IRMA2017 with @nntaleb.. Wonderful meeting you! pic.twitter.com/afmcsOywYp Permalink 11:45 AM – 27 Mar 2017

@nntaleb My response to Michael Spagat, Pinker’s sidekick who doesn’t know how to read Q-Q plots or correlation lags. https://mikespagat.wordpress.com/2016/09/30/a-new-graphical-manoeuvre-not-recommended/   ” target=”_blank”>http://pic.twitter.com/Hrj6uMNI9k”>  pic.twitter.com/Hrj6uMNI9k Permalink 11:12 AM – 27 Mar 2017

@blitzkreigm This Happened @nntaleb sang a Punjabi Song too! #IRMA2017 pic.twitter.com/YHey5KFKtO Permalink 8:24 AM – 27 Mar 2017

@Navin_Shetty1 #IRMA2017 @nntaleb helathiest Europe will be one which is handled by least amount of people from Brussels Permalink 7:35 AM – 27 Mar 2017

@_anujsinghal Nassim Taleb has the audience in complete awe as he starts giving examples of risk management in trading and finance #IRMA2017 pic.twitter.com/0q36R6KTho Permalink 6:57 AM – 27 Mar 2017

@anandmmedar At #IRMA2017 @CNBCTV18News @CNBCTV18Live pic.twitter.com/P1J4l3WBu5 Permalink 6:53 AM – 27 Mar 2017

@CNBCTV18News Do you have any questions for @nntaleb? Tweet them to us using #IRMA2017 and get answers LIVE on Facebook at 8 PM.https://twitter.com/CNBCTV18News/status/845908501423706112   Permalink 11:33 PM – 26 Mar 2017

@nntaleb I fatti sono veri, le notizie sono false http://www.ilpost.it/2017/03/26/fatti-veri-notizie-false/   via @ilpost Permalink 3:47 AM – 26 Mar 2017

@nntaleb My coauthor Espen Haug, former trader, antiacademic quant, just published a paper in… Acta Astronautica.http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2017/03/25/photon-rockets-might-make-mars-a-three-minute-trip/#1754a13e34fa   Permalink 3:26 AM – 26 Mar 2017

@CNBCTV18News Meet the man who changed the way the world looks at Risks. @nntaleb speaks to @Latha_Venkatesh tomorrow LIVE on FB at 8 PM #IRMA2017 pic.twitter.com/aTEZeiJNc0 Permalink 1:01 AM – 26 Mar 2017

@nntaleb A book is something that can be read ten years after publication. A real book, twenty. Otherwise it is a magazine report with bookbinding. Permalink 9:11 PM – 25 Mar 2017

@NonMeek .@nntaleb …here’s the final #Offshorecomic to the “lecturing-birds-on-flying” -series inspired by #Antifragile. #Consulting (part 2 of 2) pic.twitter.com/1KAtYfGUu2 Permalink 11:35 AM – 25 Mar 2017

@normonics This is 1 reason ‘more regulation’ is often not a solution. As long as there is regulatory capture, it will not serve its intended function.https://twitter.com/USRightToKnow/status/845018577841405952   Permalink 2:07 PM – 23 Mar 2017

@nntaleb The EPA being owned by Monsanto, the libertarian dream is reduced corrupt agencies & let markets forces provide information.https://twitter.com/robin_mesnage/status/844203488351571968   Permalink 9:12 AM – 21 Mar 2017

@nntaleb If you do not take risks for your ideas you are nothing. Nothing. pic.twitter.com/9htuSEageI Permalink 8:33 AM – 21 Mar 2017

@nntaleb I just posted my election forecasting methodology on ArXiv https://arxiv.org/pdf/1703.06351.pdf   Permalink 4:26 AM – 21 Mar 2017

@nntaleb When you win an argument…https://twitter.com/confusezeus/status/843988816146894848   Permalink 5:58 PM – 20 Mar 2017

@nntaleb And fighting with pro-Salafi Nadim in, of all places, an Iranian restaurant @Confusezeus @yaneerbaryam @IbrahimWarde Permalink 5:10 PM – 20 Mar 2017

@nntaleb The case for blocking journos.https://twitter.com/ABeschloss/status/843927920636772353   Permalink 3:09 PM – 20 Mar 2017

@nntaleb The Merket Handshake was Fake News. He shook hands 2x same day. How to read the news.https://medium.com/incerto/the-facts-are-true-the-news-is-fake-5bf98104cea2#.ckb3mxhm1   Permalink 11:46 AM – 20 Mar 2017

@nntaleb OK, of those who who don’t get it I will block journos & mute the rest. I will also block every journo whowritesfor Huff Post, regardless.https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/843508644415225856   Permalink 9:31 AM – 20 Mar 2017

@nntaleb To my Iranian friends, happy Nowruz and best wishes on this rebirth, regeneration, and renewal, of nature. Permalink 6:01 AM – 20 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Cheating with Lagrange manual KKT @vejaocentro @CutTheKnotMath pic.twitter.com/Hq8n2jNtNy Permalink 7:01 PM – 19 Mar 2017

@adamjohnsonNYC on the 14th anniversary of Iraq War remember not just how the media sold it, but how fucking smug they were doing so https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2003/02/06/irrefutable/e598b1be-a78a-4a42-8e1a-c336f7a217f4/?utm_term=.41b0b375bbe1   ” target=”_blank”>http://pic.twitter.com/RdJp6WQtF6″>  pic.twitter.com/RdJp6WQtF6 Permalink 3:49 PM – 19 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Many respond w/o knowing what aphorism/paradox/YogiBerrism/Sarcasm mean. I usually auto-Mute bt is it fair for them to Block so they know? Permalink 10:05 AM – 19 Mar 2017

@nntaleb New Version of “Surgeons Should Not Look Like Surgeons”: Never hire someone from Harvard; Gyms shd not be fancy… https://medium.com/incerto/surgeons-should-notlook-like-surgeons-23b0e2cf6d52#.o6cxtzo1a   ” target=”_blank”>http://pic.twitter.com/y9ZP6IMSnC”>  pic.twitter.com/y9ZP6IMSnC Permalink 5:55 AM – 19 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Thanks for the survey, ~4k votes. 91% of my followers believe furloughing State Department pple would have a positive impact on the world.https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/842725131613065218   Permalink 5:04 AM – 19 Mar 2017

@nntaleb From comments I am getting for (2), the notion of *paradox* appears to be foreign to IYIs. So is that of the application of *aphorisms*. Permalink 6:24 PM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb The problem is not Louise Mensch. The problem is the NYT. They have recourse to Conspiracy theories by someone patently mentally ill.https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/843148409511002112   Permalink 12:49 PM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Thanks everyone for the generosity & answers. So looks like 3 days in Seville, 2 in Granada, 1 in Cordoba (this trip) Permalink 10:58 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb I fail to understand the press.They forget that WE know that THEY are stupid.https://twitter.com/alxpr1c3/status/843129784561532929   Permalink 9:27 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb (Note to those IYIs who can’t get it: things you wouldn’t read as a book you can read as articles, or, better, summaries). Permalink 8:11 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb 9) Never read a book if you don’t expect to be surprised by something in it, while reading it. Permalink 8:07 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb 8) Never read a book if you know what you are getting out of it. Permalink 7:57 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb 6) Never read a textbook as if you were reading a book 7) Never read a textbook in the sequence prescribed by the author(s) Permalink 7:47 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb 4) Never read a book written by a journalist 5) Never read a book if you understand the table of contents Permalink 7:42 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb 1) Never read a book that can be adequately summarized 2) Never read a book you would not reread 3) No book that can be shortened survives Permalink 7:01 AM – 18 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Friends what is the best 6-day allocation in Andalucia better than 33% Cordoba, 33% Granada, 33% Seville? Permalink 8:01 PM – 17 Mar 2017

@nntaleb My accent in Akkadian is better! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50282823/hammurabi.mp3   @fitzmorrissey Permalink 12:32 PM – 17 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Someone asked me to find a Lebanese IYI. @peterdaou would be an excellent representative. @sahouraxohttps://medium.com/incerto/the-intellectual-yet-idiot-13211e2d0577#.zt851y6am   Permalink 9:08 AM – 17 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Finally my paper on election forecasting is finished. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50282823/elections1.pdf   Permalink 7:59 AM – 17 Mar 2017

@p_sfitz Here @nntaleb is wrong for once. Need EU to also take the same year off!https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/842726365925466112   Permalink 6:17 AM – 17 Mar 2017

@nntaleb . @saifedean Hence my following tweet about the State department. If they take a year off, Israel-Palestine is solved by itself. Permalink 6:16 AM – 17 Mar 2017

@nntaleb If we forced policymakers of the State Department to take a year off (take painting & pottery classes), the effect on worldwide peace: Permalink 6:11 AM – 17 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Government in Lebanon is mostly political patronage. Municipalities are the future. (Saif is the first Libertarian Palestinian on planet.)https://twitter.com/saifedean/status/842720363062747137   Permalink 6:02 AM – 17 Mar 2017

@garyruskin The @EPA May Have Been in Bed with Big Pesticide for Years. http://bit.ly/2nsuUVO   A nice summary of recent #glyphosate events by @esquire Permalink 1:07 PM – 16 Mar 2017

@nntaleb No, I don’t. I don’t usually have “new” “cool” ideas.https://twitter.com/random_coco/status/842196194390626305   Permalink 12:06 PM – 16 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Dismantle the metastatic administrative state. Defang the Obamist bureaucrato-academic-nudging class. Make America #Antifragile Again! Permalink 9:24 AM – 16 Mar 2017

@FamCapital Viewpoint: Family Businesses and the Lindy Effect #fambiz #businessowner @nntaleb http://www.famcap.com/articles/2017/3/16/viewpoint-family-businesses-and-the-lindy-effect   ” target=”_blank”>http://pic.twitter.com/OPOtZN6Lqv”>  pic.twitter.com/OPOtZN6Lqv Permalink 8:03 AM – 16 Mar 2017

@nntaleb @nickgiIlepsie was just pulling Nick’s leg. He probably meant economic thinking. Permalink 7:59 AM – 16 Mar 2017

@nntaleb “Non-Anglo-American erudition”? Like saying “non-Anglo-American Medieval History”, “non-Anglo-American cuisine”, “non-Anglo-American opera”https://twitter.com/nickgillespie/status/842357726650986496   Permalink 6:06 AM – 16 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Stop reading about Holland and read this.https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam/status/842352522325032961   Permalink 6:01 AM – 16 Mar 2017

@VergilDen If @nntaleb has ever called you an imbecile (or a fucking idiot), this is why pic.twitter.com/2RJkHHQFKf Permalink 5:37 AM – 16 Mar 2017

@nntaleb In other words, culturally more integrated areas, a better way to name region.https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/842212268121161730   Permalink 8:17 PM – 15 Mar 2017

@nntaleb We name areas by land mass: Africa, Europe… More natural to name by water mass: North-Atlantic, Mediterranean, Red Sea,Arabian Sea, Baltic Permalink 8:13 PM – 15 Mar 2017

@nntaleb I contradicted an economist on his BS models. He replied that I was working for Putin. http://thebea.st/2mtENxE   via @thedailybeast Permalink 2:23 PM – 15 Mar 2017

@NewtTrump John McCain accuses Rand Paul of working for Vladimir Putin. RETWEET if you think McCain needs to retire already! pic.twitter.com/EImWcg97Gu Permalink 2:00 PM – 15 Mar 2017

@seanmdav Trump’s effective rate in 2005 wasn’t 25%. Using the same formula for Obama’s 2016 rate (taxes / AGI), Trump’s effective rate was 79%. Permalink 1:48 PM – 15 Mar 2017

@pierpont_morgan “Monsanto had ghostwritten research that was later attributed to academics…” You’d be surprised how often this happens. pic.twitter.com/amdwNa1f6n Permalink 10:54 AM – 15 Mar 2017

@TulsiPress Dems & Republicans can agree on this: it’s time to pass the #StopArmingTerrorists Acthttps://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/gabbards-stop-arming-terrorists-act-introduced-senate   Permalink 9:00 AM – 15 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Thanks for the votes. Another option: calling wconomics &other unsocial science “The Empty Profession”? & econ books “Empty Science”? Permalink 8:48 AM – 15 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Funded by Obama and promoted by lobbyists/think tank agents such as @MiddleEastInst @BrookingsDoha. The same AlQaeda.https://twitter.com/joshua_landis/status/842035595983626240   Permalink 8:35 AM – 15 Mar 2017

@DavidBCollum Hey @nntaleb: Kinda looking like your hatred of Monsanto is well founded. Sure you know this but…http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-14/court-docs-prove-monsanto-collusion-epa-kill-cancer-study-admits-cant-say-roundup-do   Permalink 7:06 PM – 14 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Skin in the game & Symmetry. If a reporter does it to me, I should do it to him/her.https://twitter.com/a_lesniewski/status/841822447905181696   Permalink 6:36 PM – 14 Mar 2017

@nntaleb h/t @BBassem7 See also myhttps://medium.com/opacity/the-syrian-war-condensed-a-more-rigorous-way-to-look-at-the-conflict-f841404c3b1d#.pcatnf2yf   Permalink 6:18 PM – 14 Mar 2017

@nntaleb I keep saying many of the pictures from the Syrian war were fake, supplied by Qatari PR firms. This one wen a bit far. pic.twitter.com/OCuN4M8Ojw Permalink 6:01 PM – 14 Mar 2017

@financequant When people ask me what they ought to study in economics, I tell them (1) Learn what the Lindy Efect is and (2) study history instead. Permalink 3:50 PM – 14 Mar 2017

@nntaleb How should be calling the economics “profession”? Permalink 8:32 AM – 14 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Are you in a sick business (journos)? If you worry about the opinion of your peers, not your clients, you are doomedhttps://medium.com/incerto/the-facts-are-true-the-news-is-fake-5bf98104cea2#.19le9cum6   Permalink 8:15 AM – 14 Mar 2017

@nntaleb Will attend & hopefully deliver a brief lecturehttps://twitter.com/SYRIAC_MARONITE/status/841636582260146176   Permalink 6:11 AM – 14 Mar 2017

@lukasnaugle True intellect should not appear to be intellectual. @nntaleb pic.twitter.com/9PDNpMA39a Permalink 5:22 AM – 14 Mar 2017

The Facts are True, the News is Fake | Medium

The Facts are True, the News is Fake
How to Disagree with Yourself

The Ethics of Disagreement

Now let us get deeper into the application of the Silver Rule in intellectual debates. You can criticize either what a person said or what the person meant. The former is more sensational, hence lends itself more readily to dissemination. The mark of a charlatan –say the journalist Sam Harris –is to defend his position or attack a critic by focusing on some of his/her specific statement (“look at what he said”) rather than blasting his exact position (“look at what he means” or, more broadly, “look at what he stands for”), the latter of which requires an extensive grasp of the proposed idea. Note that the same applies to the interpretation of religious texts, often extracted from their broader circumstances.

(David Cameron discussion, 2009)

Only The Rich Are Poisoned: The Preference of Others | Medium

Only The Rich Are Poisoned: The Preference of Others
The salesman is the boss — How to drink poison — Advertising and manipulation

Very few people understand their own choices, and end up being manipulated by those who want to sell them something. In that sense, impoverishment might be something desirable. Looking at Saudi Arabia which should progressively revert to the pre-oil level of poverty, I wonder if Vauvenargues would tell them that taking away some things from them –and the swarm of fawning foreigners coming to skin them –will make them better off.

To put it another way: if wealth is giving you fewer options instead of more (and more varied) options, you’re doing it wrong …