What happened to the hacker spirit? Having thick skin, tolerating no bullshit, being blunt but respecting intelligent insights? Why are HNers much more susceptible to Taleb's assholishness than, say, Torvalds, or esr?
(This is a rhetorical question - I think we all know why but it would be flamebait to expand further)
> Having thick skin, tolerating no bullshit, being blunt but respecting intelligent insights?
I think the issue is that much of Taleb's work doesn't qualify as intelligent insight, and is in fact bullshit. Black Swan was notable, and its core message makes the work worth reading. Just about everything else he has produced consists of meaningless platitudes, edgy, pretentious contrarian takes, and self-aggrandizing chest thumping. He is like if you combined Reddit's r/iamverysmart with the Sphinx character from the 90's movie Mystery Men.
Being a dick perhaps is tolerable if you have genuine insight to offer. Without it, why must the dickish behavior be tolerated?
Whataboutism. But also, I don't think he makes insightful insights. My point is that, not unlike mainstream media, he finds the dumbest way to represent a group, and then acts like he's the first person to see how stupid it is. It's acting in bad faith.
I'm sure he's an above average intelligent guy. But he's also an immature narcissist who seems overeager to convince people he's smarter than others. I hope he fades from public awareness personally.
(This is a rhetorical question - I think we all know why but it would be flamebait to expand further)