I agree: so much of the criticism regarding Taleb's books seems to be that he's arrogant. However, I don't understand how it's arrogant to say that people are bad at predicting the future, which I think is his main point.
Having spent last two year working prediction of properties of drugs from their structure (Machine Learning),
Taleb's book was the real eye opener.
It made total sense. However the hoi polloi is in search of a charismatic Messiah who has answer to all questions.
And when someone mocks their expectation by presenting statistical evidence, the general argument is how arrogant that person is.
The idea of something can be predicted by using mathematical formulas (F=MA) is extremely attractive, however in Chaos filled practice one finds it more of an exception rather than a rule. The worst part being our inability to choose a proper null model.
It made total sense. However the hoi polloi is in search of a charismatic Messiah who has answer to all questions. And when someone mocks their expectation by presenting statistical evidence, the general argument is how arrogant that person is.
The idea of something can be predicted by using mathematical formulas (F=MA) is extremely attractive, however in Chaos filled practice one finds it more of an exception rather than a rule. The worst part being our inability to choose a proper null model.