“One of the problems with social networks is that it is getting harder and harder for others to complain about you behind your back.”
From The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Taleb
Trust
“I trust everyone except those who tell me they are trustworthy.”
From The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Taleb
Maxims Explained
“A good maxim allows you to have the last word without even starting a conversation.”
From The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Taleb
Maxims Explained
“Aphorisms lose their charm when explained.”
From The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Taleb Continue reading “Maxims Explained”
My Politics
“I am, at the Fed level, libertarian; at the state level, Republican; at the local level, Democrat; and at the family and friends level, a socialist.
Nassim Taleb
from Skin in the Game
To apply to myself I would reword Taleb’s brilliant observation to say: “At the family level I am a communist, at the friend and acquaintance level a socialist, at the local level a Democrat, at the state level a Republican and at the national level a libertarian. But at no level is it absolute, governance is a continuum.”
Laws vs Ethics
Forecasting vs Speculation
Forecasting (in words) bears no relation to speculation (in deeds).
Nassim Taleb
Author of Skin in The Game
Tinkering
“The knowledge we get by tinkering, via trial and error, experience, and the workings of time, in other words, contact with the earth, is vastly superior to that obtained through reasoning”
Nassim Taleb
Author of Skin in the Game
The Robert Rubin Scam
“Robert Rubin, a former Secretary of the United States Treasury, one of those who sign their names on the banknote you just used to pay for coffee, collected more than $ 120 million in compensation from Citibank in the decade preceding the banking crash of 2008. When the bank, literally insolvent, was rescued by the taxpayer, he didn’t write any check— he invoked uncertainty as an excuse. Heads he wins, tails he shouts ‘Black Swan.'”
This excerpt from Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb is a perfect example of how the new privileged class behaves.
Knowing You’re Wrong
“You will never fully convince someone that he is wrong; only reality can.”
Nassim Taleb