How's Your Face?

Good. I’m sort of glad these manufacturers of factoids and cocktail party banter for know-it-alls are getting pilloried. And that’s what it is, banter masquerading as deep thinking. They are basically “riff” on data, as far as I can tell, omitting values both personal and societal when convenient for their contrarian thesis. Unfortunately, they are more insidious than most pop-science overreachers in that they are decent writers, and not overly obnoxious/polemnical (there is a benign, gee whiz attitude at work that is endearing to the smart set). I only realized how dumb it was when (after reading that Taleb, of all people, respected these guys) I finally began reading it only to quit in disgust less than halfway through.