Taleb's New Skin In The Game Paper

[Chad]

I wouldn't say Taleb is pseudo intellectual. He has legit ideas. I just think his renown is a little over blown. The way people talk about him, you would think you would be getting something really earth shattering in Black Swan or Anti-Fragile. They are good and interesting, but not a huge step forward. A lot of ERE is basically just anti-fragility.

[workathome]

It seems pretty bigoted to discriminate against someone's ideas based on their religious beliefs being different than your own modern secular materialism/atheism/agnosticism/universalism.

[jennypenny]

Bigoted seems like a strong term. I understand if his beliefs seem incongruous. I only get upset when people are surprised that someone like Taleb is religious because they feel he's too *smart* to be religious.

[Ego]

Non-force-feeders might care a great deal about the vanilla eaters.

You got it backwards. Vanilla good, chocolate bad.

[Ego]

But, anyway, I think there's no reason to discuss his or anyone else's religious beliefs here--plenty of investors have deep beliefs, whether it's in a religion or nationality.

Taleb himself puts it out there for discussion so that makes it okay. Like it or not, a chosen faith says a lot about a person. It is not personal if it is not kept personal. If I have reservations about what they profess to believe then it is perfectly reasonable to extend those reservations to the other things they profess. I like Taleb's other ideas despite his faith.

[Chad]

Again, what Ego said. Plus, his avatar is cooler.

[secretwealth]

"It is not personal if it is not kept personal."

I fully agree with that. Taleb seems to envision himself a big idea person--capitalism's Marx or something like that. So everything should be on the table with him (if not with others).

[jennypenny]

I'm surprised you guys still let me play in the ERE sandbox after coming out of the Catholic libertarian closet

I don't see why we shouldn't be able to talk about someone's religious beliefs as they relate to a particular subject (as long as we're discussing and not condemning). We talk about other beliefs.

[secretwealth]

@jp Au contraire, I think those of us who dislike libertarianism are less in sync with the ERE majority. Fine with me--buy those GLD call options up, guys!

[jennypenny]

I suggest starting a new thread focused on religion and beliefs... It has the potential to become huge.

Don't start a new one on my account. My comments were related to Taleb. I was sincerely curious why some found his religious beliefs relevant to his economic theories. It's all good.

[Ego]

Again, what Ego said. Plus, his avatar is cooler.

Hah. I think bigato's got me beat. I stole mine.

I'm surprised you guys still let me play in the ERE sandbox after coming out of the Catholic libertarian closet

To each his own peccadilloes. It makes life more interesting.

[Ego]

In the last few hours Taleb's been uploading self-produced mooc style videos to his new youtube channel. Enjoy...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uY6y ... ture=watch

[George the original one]

Non-force-feeders might care a great deal about the vanilla eaters.

You got it backwards. Vanilla good, chocolate bad.

As long as it's not French vanilla.

[workathome]

Assuming religious beliefs are illogical attests to limited exploration of religious beliefs, which would require a lifetime of study to begin grasping.

[George the original one]

Assuming religious beliefs are illogical attests to limited exploration of religious beliefs, which would require a lifetime of study to begin grasping.

If religious beliefs were logical, then the Roman and Greek pantheon would still be practiced. Mayans, Aztecs, and many other religions would still be practiced.

[secretwealth]

I think we'd first need to define what we mean by logic and religious belief, and then WAH would need to assert whether he thinks all or just some (or one?) religions beliefs are logical.

I don't see what value such a discussion would have, though.

On a related side note--back when I was still teaching I did a grad course on religious literature, and a lot of time was spent on the history of the Bible, both its English translations and the changes made to various texts throughout the several centuries of ancient manuscript transmission. It was really a factual class just presenting the historical record more than anything else. At the end of the class one student came to me and said, "before I took this class I was a minister at my church. You taught me more about the history of the Bible than I ever knew, and I think I'm an atheist now." I still sometimes feel a pang of guilt that I took away the consolations of faith from this person.

[workathome]

Good point! I meant "assuming all religious beliefs are illogical..."

But you could flip it on its head and say "assuming all scientific pursuits are logical...", which are often flawed, more often than not determined by grant funding, personal bias, etc.

http://thestoryofscience.blogspot.com
http://corruption-of-science.blogspot.com

Generally those who best comprehend the religious beliefs and systems have dedicated a lifestyle of study and purpose, while the layman has a limited (and sometimes mistaken view) of the belief system. As with anything, religious beliefs can and have been twisted and used to justify political and economic aggressiveness, just as science can be used to pursue political agendas or distorted where facts don't fit the current political agenda.

The modern bias is against all religion, but this is "tossing the baby out..." - living a life empty of spirituality is missing part of what it means to be human, and what many extremely intelligent individuals have comprehended beyond what we will be able to achieve in this life. It may seem easier to dismiss all spirituality, just as some dismiss the stock market as a scam - it can be a lot of work to understand. To be honest though, one should simply admit they don't understand much of it - not dismiss it as something without any benefit.

[George the original one]

> The modern bias is against all religion

Isn't the modern bias against establishing a religious-based government? I think we're in agreement that religion shouldn't be dismissed.

[Tyler9000]

Most non-believers are very rational and logical people.

That's news to me.

[CS]

After starting Taleb's book about Antifragile, I feel like I have finally found a voice of reason. The rambling cuts down as he gets into the meat of the book, and I am okay with that.

1. He has ethics, something sorely lacking from most everything and everyone these days it seems. Personal responsibility is like a foreign notion to most.

2. His hatred of academics is completely reasonable. First off, like any authority figure, they are given too much credibility for zero reason except their title. A little shocking language to challenge that is needed just to push people to think about that. I find most people will squabble amongst themselves about who follows the 'rules' the best, rather than challenge the rules and the underlying assumptions themselves. Independent thinking is a precious and rare commodity. Maybe not so much here, but here is a special place.