Dr. Taleb,
I have deep respect for you and the work you’ve shared with us (especially Fooled by Randomness, Black Swan and Antifragile). I’ve probably gifted your books to friends more than any others.
I have a favor to ask. While I can’t find any fault in this essay, its premises or conclusions, I would like to challenge you to make your writing more accessible.
Maybe I’m missing the joke — that the very people you’re insulting and behavior you’re describing are best reflected in people like me and comments like mine. Maybe I am your IYI.
However, I’m hoping you’re not that cynical and believe in my heart that you see yourself instead as the guy carrying a bag full of dead canaries into the town center. We townspeople may just need a little more help distinguishing between the body of a canary and that of the chicken we’re eating for dinner.
If your ambition is to leave a better world, then please make your observations, insights and suggestions available to more readers. I believe there are many more receptive people out there hungry for your wisdom for whom your writing is just out of reach.
This may require some courage on your part — to make your ideas and yourself more vulnerable. But, I believe that greater simplicity and accessibility lead to greater clarity and utility.
Thank you again for sharing your insights.
On a side note, I’ve had the great fortune recently to work with someone who has embraced the skin-in-the-game approach to helping communities to reduce gang violence. Over 25 years ago, he and some others made an enormous shift in how to deal with youth violence — from the failed “preach, scorn and discipline” approach to an “engage, listen and try” approach. I see it as the ultimate example of skin-in-the-game — meet gang members at night, on the street and invite them to the table. You can learn more at the site below.
