Nassim Taleb (2) - La Ciudad de las Ideas 2009 [12]

[Karimha]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a fraud and a crank. It is painful to watch him vomit his nonsense and with such arrogance to top it off!

[mtklaric]

incredible the comments and the ignorance here....especially when nassim is talking.....everybody who does not understand what he says should read his book the black swan...but then again most atheist and belivers are financialy illiterate so taleb would be out of your league

[Prophiscient]

@mtklaric

Maybe you missed the point, but this was not a lecture about economy and finances. It was a debate about religion, and in that field Mr. Taleb's ideas don't seem to be any more intelligent than the ramblings of any other religiously handicapped simpleton, so I think that this segment of the debate is rather painful to watch.

Maybe he is good at his job -- I'm just a financially ignorant atheist, so I wouldn't know -- but then I can only hope that he didn't quit his dayjob for this...

[rob16248]

I would've thought anyone invited to argue in support of religion at this convention might have some semblance of cohesive thought, even though they are essentially flawed. Nonetheless, they put forth hopelessly flawed arguements time and time again. What a prat!

[Ond7]

Put this on in the background.

/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg

[Poltionorch]

I can not see this clip to the end. It is too mind boggling stupid.

[Poltionorch]

This man is a liar. It is people like him that make this world a worse place to live in.

[az091186]

what's he talking about?

[MrKvgalen]

you all completely misunderstand every point

[frother]

"we know from data"

[GRains91]

i think i might have to kill myself if i listen to this guy speak any longer -_-

[aika092]

This speech ironically reminds me of the teachings of the religious zealots in the fiction book "Blind Faith".

[DJMarcO138]

Science hasn't saved lives??? IS THIS GUY SERIOUS?!?!?!?! Someone shoot him right in his moron face asafp. Put him out of his misery.

[InnerSmile72]

I just saw that 70 year old lady armed with a purse chase a group of thugs off of robbing a jewelry store. Taleb's bullshit made me laugh even harder than that!

[vanilaish]

There is depth to Nassim's stupidity...but it's impossible to gauge.

[vanilaish]

There is depth to Nassim's stupidity...but it's impossible to gauge.

[Imreason]

this guy is soooooooooo fucking DUMB!!!! the worse dabater here!! WTF is he talking about!! the movie and blood and medical science failing 8 times worse than praying in a cathedral, WTF!!

[Michyfbaee]

Nassim, you are an idiot, period.

[grebrim]

Maybe, this person should look up the Haber-Bosch process for starters.

[chyckenfeet]

this guy cannot be serious. did he ever think that the reason people who go to hospitals die more often is because, oh i dont know, they are sick!? honestly, the idea that a man who encourages being ignorant has any influence on people is frightening to me

[Quellers]

WOW!!!! This guys a fucking IDIOT!

How many times has he been to the doctor?

How many vaccines has he had?

This guy is a JOKE!

[FranciscoKGuerreiro]

Please tell me this guy is a joke....

Cience didn´t help the human health?..WTF

[acme181169]

WTF!!!! His 1st presentation was laughable, but this is just offensive to everybody, theist and atheist alike!

TIP: NEVER use his arguements! FAIL!

[xoloxum]

This guy should be denied modern medicine. He should rely on prayer instead.

[rooflee]

Shocked and stunned! :-O

[JohnWoo]

WTF? How can this man speak for 4 minutes without really saying anything?????

[battletor4]

I'm speechless. I feel dumber for having listened to this; thanks a lot, asshole!

[martiangrundy]

Just simply WWOOOWW!!

How can a grown, educated, (yes I know it seems hard to believe, but he must be) man, actually come out with this idiocy, and not be so embarrassed he leaves the stage.

I've heard some stupid things before, but I'm actually shocked at this.

BTW, when we stop believing in Santa Clause, what do we "fill the void with"?

I really can't believe he tried to use that argument, it's an insult to the audiences intelligence.

Boteach, and D'Souza are dishonest, but they at least try

[ScaffyMassa]

Nassim Taleb, you even said it yourself 'you suspend your disbelief' when watching a movie to enjoy it, yes. When trying to understand reality, you don't suspend your disbelief at all. What a weird statement.

[criticaljimmk]

who invited this retard philosopher...wtf the fuck is he talking about

[trapfish]

Rambling nonsense, this man makes absolutely no sense at all, it must pain reasonable people to have to debate this position.

[sswindgassen]

intelligent muslims around the world must be (should be?) cringing

[Spoon81508]

... I had to replay this to make sure that I heard him correctly.. that prayer will heal you.. not medicine. wow.

[variance76]

I feel dumber for having watched this.

[JohnConnorSAS]

What am I going to put  in place of religion? How about some brains.

[Jasonstarwalker]

As an atheist, I find the idea of god arbitrary. However, Mr Taleb makes an elegant point: absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence. This doesn't make religion right. But what it amounts to is that we shouldn't jump to conclusions if we can't find evidence.

[Jasonstarwalker]

As an atheist, I find the idea of god arbitrary. However, Mr Taleb makes an elegant point: absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence. This doesn't make religion right. But what it amounts to is that we shouldn't jump to conclusions that something doesn't exist if we can't find evidence.

[westjuan]

bullshitter!!!

[rmeddy1]

Taleb is making some fantastic points here but his ideas don't really fit in a religious debate

[ceezmad1]

Did he just say that Religion is better than going to the doctor?

wow, lets blow up all the Hospitals and build churches! LOL!

[TheBurzum777]

Nassim Taleb, what an embarrassment.

Why is he not laughed off the stage?

[moh490234890238490]

Proof that evolution CAN go in reverse.

[rxangel18]

And he ends with substance replacment theoropy, lol! The placeebo of the people indeed Ger, you were righto again. oh, and it's not Lupus.

[rxangel18]

Actually, thats wrong too. It may be that the goal is set by subjective preferance, but one can be scientific in their appraoch to almost any end. Science is a tool, not a "realm" that says x, y, or z.

[rxangel18]

This is some of the most dishonest backwards logic I've ever heard. Believers know in the minds minds whats moral and uimmoral, so they do what is right but then credit gd for their actions, it's gross.

[rxangel18]

wait, so because visiting witch doctors was always a bad idea, medical science is not true?

Thats ridiculous.

[cizzio1]

Wow, just....... wow. You heard it here first, medical science does nothing, best start shutting all the hospitals then. What a fucking idiot.

[jeremyemilio]

As someone with a chronic illness (Crohn's) I can tell you from experience that medical science sure as hell doesn't do much. In many situations medicine works a lot like modern psychology: they can study you, diagnose you, and describe what's wrong with you quite impressively... but cure you? Good friggin' luck. Even if they manage to alleviate the symptoms they generally just introduce new ones. We've become much better at cutting off parts that aren't working, though; I'll give you that.

[bkishar]

And your conclusion from the incompleteness of our medical knowledge and the immense complexity of the human body, that may be beyond our control for centuries to come, is that we should discard it all and resort to Iron Age Shamanism?

[jeremyemilio]

No, not at all. Why do you insist on suggesting that I mean something more than what I write. I mean only what I have written. Nothing more. Nothing less. I offered no conclusions. Again, I'm just providing empirical evidence, based on my own experience. Do with it what you will.

[bkishar]

Because your critique comes in forum where the scientific method is debating religion.

Your evidence is not empirical, it is experiential.

[jeremyemilio]

All empirical evidence is experiential; all experiential evidence is empirical.

That's the very essence of the scientific method and of the scientific revolution.

I'm not looking for a fight. I respect atheism and many atheists a great deal. But as a person of faith, I simply find it difficult to stand by smiling while people like Hitchens call me stupid and ignorant uninformed fanboys (present company excepted) cheer him on. I am many things, but let me assure you, I am not stupid.

[bkishar]

What makes an experience empirical evidence is the presence of structure through repeatability and variable controls. Purely subjective unstructured and uncontrolled experiences cannot elucidate links between causes and effects in the same way.

This is not a fight, it is a constructive debate. Do not take criticism too personally. Newton was no idiot, despite many of the ideas he held on magic being ridiculous.

[jeremyemilio]

Your view of empiricism is pretty narrow. We don't all have time to conduct and repeat experiments on every assumed truth we hold. This leaves two choices: A) We believe what we see and experience. B) We trust authority. I don't know of a single sane person who doesn't do both. Religious faith for most is based largely on a trust in certain authorities and an acceptance of second hand experiential accounts. For the layman, most science is accepted on the exact same grounds.

[texjoy86]

Am I really listening to something THIS stupid?

[ThePirateGrog]

yes :(

[martyaus2905]

This is the worst argument so far, lmfao.

[nthoctave]

Oh, I get it now. The person they had scheduled to sit on the theist side couldn't make it, so they just grabbed a crazy person off the street and figured no one would know the difference. I almost didn't...

[Redbeardian]

Remove religion from the mind .... and replace it with ...... REALITY ... duh

[BillKiernan]

we live longer because of sanitation due to scientific knowledge about germs, viruses, pollutants, etc. you fucking complete moron. i want to jump through the screen and backhand this guy.

[xTRUExHATEx]

Even if we conceded that he's correct and science is a harmful endeavor, that wouldn't support religious claims.

I wonder if he had a heart attack if he would pray or request a trip to the hospital.

[BillKiernan]

hahaaha my god this man..i don't even have the words. is this guy fucking for real? because doctors from other centuries didn't know what they were doing (some of the time, they weren't completely inept in all fields btw) we should distrust science. who the fuck is this guy and why was he invited to ramble on like an insane person on the street here?

[pomeroy82]

this guy is a fucktard!

[CamAtheist]

who is this guy? He lost me on so many levels

[Throred]

If you remove religion from our minds, what are you going to put in it's place? - Is he serious? That has to be the worst argument ever=P

[MeNicki]

I'm under the impression that most people click and watch Dennett, Hitchens and Harris' speaches. After watching this I'm starting to see why they don't even give theists a chance anymore. Even this time, I thought I'd try to take in some of thier constructive critisisms for once... It's just not worth sifting though the filth anymore.

[realcuteguyyayiyayi]

u make no sense , jaja

is it me or ppl who on the theist side always are dumb?