Taleb's Scientistic Sucker Problems

Reece

Member
https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=13012333374&story_fbid=10151830273883375

This very long list makes for interesting reading. You have to click on "show more comments" several times to get the full thing. It's supposed to be a list of scientistic health stances that have been promoted by the establishment . . . examples being things like: baby formula (often made from soy) is better for babies than breast feeding (bc scientists made it, of course!), promotion of low fat diets, vegetable oils and margarine, diet soft drinks, etc., coupled with the demonization of real butter, etc., the use of x-rays for 40 years to examine shoe fit on children . . .

There's a lot of junk and contradictory stuff, too, it goes without saying . . . But there's a lot there that's really interesting you may have forgotten or never known about.
 
I think Taleb is looking for fat-tail problems in which "harm" wasn't investigated or adequately investigated prior to the intervention's promotion. Early formula substitutes would fit this bill, as well as tobacco use and x-rays. Low-fat diets which substituted trans-fats for saturated fat would as well. Low-fat diets in general wouldn't. Neither would refined sugar or diet drinks.

There are a bunch of useful suggestions in the comments. And there is a bunch of axe-grinding as well. But not from Taleb, as far as I can tell.

Linda
 
You should read Antifragile and see him lay into economists. He says the economy (and life) is dictated by unpredictable, black swan events, the exact opposite of what an economist would have you believe.
I'm willing to believe that is true to a large extent.

~~ Paul
 
I'm willing to believe that is true to a large extent.

~~ Paul
His thing with economists seems to come from intense epistemology interests coupled with having been a trader.

He suggests, as a way to buffer against risk, dumb-belling. So instead of going with investments with a moderate amount of risk, one would split it and simultaneously invest in a percentage of high risk and low risk things . . . Split up in such a say that would make sense alternative to the amount of moderation desired.

As Skeptiko poster Nassim, fls, and I have said before, his thoughts are very applicable to these Skeptiko discussions . . . But no one seems willing to take the bait.
 
Back
Top