{"id":8197,"date":"2016-01-14T21:21:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T05:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackswanreport.com\/blog\/?p=8197"},"modified":"2016-01-15T13:35:11","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T21:35:11","slug":"sam-harris-responds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackswanreport.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/sam-harris-responds\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Harris Responds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Probably you find yourself as am I, baffled by the recent spat of Twitter hate<\/a> emanating from NNT towards @SamHarris, @sapinker and many others. The Steven Pinker spat goes back to a 2009 NYT book review<\/a> by Pinker of Malcolm Gladwell’s \u201cWhat the Dog Saw\u201d, where Pinker beats up on Gladwell (see also<\/a>). Taleb, featured in the book, by then a friend of Gladwell, comes to the rescue. Pinker is surprised, Taleb doubles down. From Maclean’s 12\/10\/2012<\/a>:<\/p>\n

So, when the renowned Canadian-born Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker penned a critical review<\/a> in The New York Times <\/em>of fellow Canadian Malcolm Gladwell\u2019s novel, What the Dog Saw<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Taleb rushed to Gladwell\u2019s defense. \u201cI got furious. I feel loyalty for someone who does something nice for you, when you are nobody.\u201d Taleb wrote a scathing critique<\/a> of Pinker\u2019s research in The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>In his critique, titled \u201cThe Pinker problem<\/a>,\u201d Taleb claims Pinker\u2019s book is riddled with errors in sampling and doesn\u2019t \u201crecognize the difference between rigorous empiricism and anecdotal statements.\u201d Pinker responded with his own paper in which he writes, \u201cTaleb shows no signs of having read Better Angels<\/em>.\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

NNT’s beef with Sam Harris is a little harder to track.<\/p>\n

\"20151230taleb-harris\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The debate Harris talks about, which seems to be the nexus of NNT’s beef with him, happened in 2009.
\nIn a recent podcast<\/a>, Sam Harris responded to NNT’s Tweets and shared some context.
\nListen to the relevant section of the podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

The entire debate, from La Ciudad de las Ideas 2009, full and unedited, can be found here<\/a>. What follows are relevant clips from NNT and then Sam Harris.<\/p>\n