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Must Read: The Intellectual-Yet-Idiot Class Can Barely Wipe Themselves After Shitting, Yet They Control Even the Most Intimate Parts of Our Lives

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan ( I haven't actually red the book, but the thesis is interesting and quickly understood in broad outline), seems to be a rather nasty traitor to his class of Intellectuals. (Though I'd imagine he'd say he's not among the class of "intellectuals" he's talking about.)

Coincidentally with this blog's own preoccupation, he keeps making an issue of the Medical Intellectual-Yet-Idiot class who told us to all stop eating fat and eat Healthy Energy-Boosting Carbohydrates instead.

One thing:


The Intellectual Yet Idiot

What we have been seeing worldwide, from India to the UK to the US, is the rebellion against the inner circle of no-skin-in-the-game policymaking
"clerks" and journalists-insiders, that class of paternalistic semi-intellectual experts with some Ivy league, Oxford-Cambridge, or similar label-driven education who are telling the rest of us 1) what to do, 2) what to eat, 3) how to speak, 4) how to think… and 5) who to vote for.

But the problem is the one-eyed following the blind: these self-described members of the "intelligenzi" can’t find a coconut in Coconut Island, meaning they aren't intelligent enough to define intelligence hence fall into circularities -- but their main skill is capacity to pass exams written by people like them. With psychology papers replicating less than 40%, dietary advice reversing after 30 years of fatphobia, macroeconomic analysis working worse than astrology, the appointment of Bernanke who was less than clueless of the risks, and pharmaceutical trials replicating at best only 1/3 of the time, people are perfectly entitled to rely on their own ancestral instinct and listen to their grandmothers (or Montaigne and such filtered classical knowledge) with a better track record than these policymaking goons.

Indeed one can see that these academico-bureaucrats who feel entitled to run our lives aren't even rigorous, whether in medical statistics or policymaking. They can't tell science from scientism — in fact in their eyes scientism looks more scientific than real science. (For instance it is trivial to show the following: much of what the Cass-Sunstein-Richard Thaler types — those who want to "nudge" us into some behavior — much of what they would classify as "rational" or "irrational" (or some such categories indicating deviation from a desired or prescribed protocol) comes from their misunderstanding of probability theory and cosmetic use of first-order models.)
...

The Intellectual Yet Idiot is a production of modernity hence has been accelerating since the mid twentieth century, to reach its local supremum today, along with the broad category of people without skin-in-the-game who have been invading many walks of life. Why? Simply, in most countries, the government's role is between five and ten times what it was a century ago (expressed in percentage of GDP). The IYI seems ubiquitous in our lives but is still a small minority and is rarely seen outside specialized outlets, think tanks, the media, and universities -- most people have proper jobs and there are not many openings for the IYI.

Beware the semi-erudite who thinks he is an erudite. He fails to naturally detect sophistry.

The IYI pathologizes others for doing things he doesn't understand without ever realizing it is his understanding that may be limited. He thinks people should act according to their best interests and he knows their interests, particularly if they are "red necks" or English non-crisp-vowel class who voted for Brexit. When plebeians do something that makes sense to them, but not to him, the IYI uses the term "uneducated". What we generally call participation in the political process, he calls by two distinct designations: "democracy" when it fits the IYI, and "populism" when the plebeians dare voting in a way that contradicts his preferences.

Okay I can't quote anymore because I'm coming all over myself.

He posted this GFY to the IYI's on twitter:


Posted by: Ace at 06:02 PM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Well da

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at September 20, 2016 06:06 PM (6Ll1u)

2 Oh, please. Our betters don't have flaws.

Posted by: huerfano at September 20, 2016 06:07 PM (jkkMG)

3 Razor sharp words there.

Posted by: IC at September 20, 2016 06:07 PM (a0IVu)

4 That's why these idiots in D.C. will never get the better of us.
The more they plot, the bigger the loopholes become for us to exploit.
I would be seriously afraid of them if they were anywhere near as smart
as they think they are.


Posted by: Roman Maroni at September 20, 2016 06:07 PM (vCA4F)

5 Evening all!!

Posted by: Beth M at September 20, 2016 06:08 PM (kiy9d)

6 Whomever could he be talking about?

Posted by: Michael Mann at September 20, 2016 06:09 PM (/m8T6)

7 My soon-to-be-fired doctor is one of our (R) betters. Spent a "lovely" afternoon waiting for an hour in the examining room on his ass.

"What are you here for?"

Ummmm.....you told me you wanted to see me in a month, and I want you to do something about my damned meds that are making me miserable.

Jackass.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:10 PM (1ZOkK)

8 I asked all my friends and none of us like him.

Posted by: Neal DeGrasse Tyson at September 20, 2016 06:10 PM (/m8T6)

9 g'early evenin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at September 20, 2016 06:10 PM (ZE2Yn)

10 *shoves some Kleenex through USB port to ace*

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:10 PM (1ZOkK)

11 Re #1

Teh smart ain't a smart as they think.

Posted by: Golfman at September 20, 2016 06:11 PM (48QDY)

12 This guy is disappointing Barack Obama and his Legacy.

Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:11 PM (mFQ4L)

13 That was a great piece.

As someone who struggles mightily with the concept of intellectual humility, I find that the Universe tends to look upon my claims that hey I'm smart and got this was a sense of O RLY? and then the Universe proceeds to teach me a very public and painful lesson that no, no, I don't.

I'm not against expertise per se but I'm against this notion that experts are infallible fonts of Divine Truth from Blessed Mother Gaia Herself and how dare you question them, you plebe.

The world is complex and vast and we are in a dim room grasping for answers and maybe, just maybe, we (I) should all be a little bit more humble in what we think we know and what we can do.

Or tl;dr - I am not in the group of those who think their shit doesn't stink and those who are in that class? Yeah, they think that stench is GMO free, vegan, gluten free, organically grown roses.

Not. So. Much.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:11 PM (dEQP3)

14 The IYI's have been with us for generations. The only reason they have achieved any significance today is due to their annoying use of social media. Take away their ability to post and tweet and they would plunge back into the obscurity of self-serving academia.

Posted by: sewer Urchin at September 20, 2016 06:11 PM (B9OsQ)

15 I don't understand how Nixon won, I don't know anyone that voted for him.

Posted by: NY Times Editors at September 20, 2016 06:12 PM (NbJXF)

16 I heard him speak at a private function, and he was really fvcking interesting. It was his "Black Swan" speech, but still entertaining.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at September 20, 2016 06:12 PM (Zu3d9)

17 What a sell job they must be doing in colleges. In four years you gain 40 years of experience. These twats can't get out of their own way.

Posted by: Ben Had at September 20, 2016 06:12 PM (FrlvA)

18 Also a must read: Razib Khan, The Ending of the Liberal Interregnum 30 August 2016, and comment 12. To be found on unz.com/gnxp.

Posted by: Boulder terlit hobo at September 20, 2016 06:12 PM (53hrQ)

19 Hold out your glass, AtC. Here comes some wine.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:12 PM (1ZOkK)

20 >>When plebeians do something that makes sense to them, but not to him,
the IYI uses the term "uneducated". What we generally call participation
in the political process, he calls by two distinct designations:
"democracy" when it fits the IYI, and "populism" when the plebeians dare
voting in a way that contradicts his preferences.


Also known as "The voters were angry"/"Angry White Males" meme every time the Dems are defeated.

Posted by: Lizzy at September 20, 2016 06:12 PM (NOIQH)

21 Ace needs wet wipes.
I need a whole towel after reading that.

Posted by: Tilikum Irredeemable Killer Assault Whale- Why Am I Still Here? at September 20, 2016 06:12 PM (hVdx9)

22 Unfortunately, I don't have the patience to read this many words. Someone read this essay and let me know what my subject is saying.

Posted by: Majestic Emperor Sans Vetements, Barack I at September 20, 2016 06:13 PM (/m8T6)

23 Most IYI's are just snobs trying to hide their ignorance.

Posted by: Nip Sip at September 20, 2016 06:13 PM (NbJXF)

24

'Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc.'

Posted by: In Vino Veritits, Deplorably Irredeemable at September 20, 2016 06:13 PM (QX0Xt)

25 Excellent.


Re: Skittle-gate,
I wonder what percentage of a food has to be contaminated before they recall everything made by that food processing plant that day? I wonder if it is something like the percentages of refugees that pose a danger.

Posted by: Rory at September 20, 2016 06:13 PM (PA57R)

26 anymore because I'm coming all over myself.

After reading the article, this place is starting to look like the inside of the barrel.

Posted by: wooga at September 20, 2016 06:13 PM (XFB88)

27 Okay I can't quote anymore because I'm coming all over myself.

--------

This happens WAY more than you let on. Be honest.

Posted by: fixerupper at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (JmjOe)

28 >>The world is complex and vast and we are in a dim room grasping for answers


I thought we were in a cave, watching shadows on the wall?

Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (mFQ4L)

29 Thank you, Jane.

*sticks mouth under USB port*

Today both sucked and blew and AND I moved my hair appointment so that I would be there for a client who couldn't make it to the office until 5ish.

What's that? Well of COURSE she didn't show. Of. Course.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (dEQP3)

30

not just fat, but beef, salt, dairy, gluten, vegan, everything


eat everything in moderation (unless of course you are allergic to it)

pure foods, whole foods, non-processed (in the sense of Cheetoh's) foods

it's so easy

eat like generations ago - healthy, not fake food

all in moderation

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (qCMvj)

31
Okay, dumb it down for us.


The elites are so intellectually inbred, they're retarded.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (uz/Pv)

32 My doctor (state senator -R) reminded me again today that salt is EVIL and no one needs to ever add it to food.

I already use very little salt whatsoever, and don't keep a shaker on our table, unless there are guests.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (1ZOkK)

33 Most IYI's are just snobs trying to hide their ignorance.

Posted by: Nip Sip

----

They merely learn how to parrot the proper "smart" buzzwords.

Posted by: RKae at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (i+OYT)

34 26 Most IYI's are just snobs trying to hide their ignorance.
Posted by: Nip Sip at September 20, 2016 06:13 PM (NbJXF)

I'm increasingly in the GFY club.

Posted by: Golfman at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (48QDY)

35 >> Ace needs wet wipes


His Jerk Sock must be at the Cleaners.

Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (mFQ4L)

36 >>I thought we were in a cave, watching shadows on the wall?

More like a grotto with apes crunching figs.

Posted by: JackStraw at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (/tuJf)

37

It was the Internet that broke all of these barriers down.

We know.

We can tell.

The Truth is coming out all over the web...

hubby's got a million things q'd up to watch tonight. It's frightening! Time to go start the marathon.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (qCMvj)

38 The call to avoid fat in your diet came from that huge "nurse's survey" that was done decades ago. It has been used for many different diseases and heart disease is on of the primary ones.


After I had my heart attack I read every book out local library had on it, several internet treatises, and all the recommendations that the Mayo Clinic had.


After all that I came to the conclusion that the biggest contributor to the odds of having a heart attack was heredity. If it ran in your family then it upped your odds. The next contributor was smoking. Next was a lack of exercise combined with being overweight from eating all things and sitting around. Way down on the list was eating high fat foods laced with cholesterol. But still the Mayo Clinic recommended less than 200 mg/day of cholesterol in your food and still does although many other studies are now questioning that. One other thing I found was that a high salt diet, as long as you did not go crazy, had no effected unless you were "salt sensitive".


So what I have found is this; the science is never settled.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (mpXpK)

39 Intellectuals as a class, has very little to do with intellect.

Posted by: fixerupper at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (JmjOe)

40 This sounds somewhat thematically similar to Thomas Sowell's "The Vision of the Anointed."

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:16 PM (0mRoj)

41 Mr. Peebles, that was very succinct.

Posted by: no good deed at September 20, 2016 06:16 PM (/O5Ax)

42 Talebs Black Swan was a good read. He's probably a little full of himself sometimes but not really grating. If you know people from that area (I think he's Lebanese) it's just kind of baked into the male culture. I was reading the book around the time the ballet movie came out and a lot of guys thought it was based on the movie (don't ask).

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at September 20, 2016 06:16 PM (PtF19)

43
Today both sucked and blew and AND I moved my
hair appointment so that I would be there for a client who couldn't make
it to the office until 5ish.



What's that? Well of COURSE she didn't show. Of. Course.





Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (dEQP3)


Well, my hair stylist who had a bad surgery experience in April, ended up being paralyzed from the neck down, has regained use of his upper body, but is in a wheelchair.


I look like Hillary in her longer-haired days. (Well, not really.) Looking for a new stylist, after using my guy for eight years.

He needs an attorney.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:16 PM (1ZOkK)

44 I thought my platinum membership gave me automatic notifications of new threads and gave us VIPs exclusive rights to post in new threads for fifteen minutes.

Was I duped?!

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:16 PM (21hN3)

45 The IYI's have been with us for generations. The
only reason they have achieved any significance today is due to their
annoying use of social media. Take away their ability to post and tweet
and they would plunge back into the obscurity of self-serving academia.
Posted by: sewer Urchin at September 20, 2016 06:11 PM (B9OsQ)
Quite, nothing to see here. Move along now.

Posted by: Woodrow & Franklin at September 20, 2016 06:17 PM (EIB5Y)

46 True story...

A friend's sister and brother-in-law wanted to own their own business. They both have masters degrees in math and engineering, I believe. They opened a gym. Went out of business in about three months. Three. Months. Filed bankruptcy. The brother-in-law now teaches math in high school.

Math.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:17 PM (k0G44)

47 And he's Greek Orthodox Christian according to wikipedia, not Muslim as one might think from the name.

Posted by: Yuimetal at September 20, 2016 06:17 PM (iFgwk)

48 38 >> Ace needs wet wipes


His Jerk Sock must be at the Cleaners.
Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (mFQ4L)

I suspect he purchases them by the gross.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:17 PM (0mRoj)

49 The worse IYIs? Women that get their "knowledge" from the View and NBC's Today show.



The stupid is STRONG!

Posted by: Nip Sip at September 20, 2016 06:18 PM (NbJXF)

50 >>I suspect he purchases them by the gross.


Leasing them would be more gross.

Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:18 PM (mFQ4L)

51 Orwell.

Posted by: Yuimetal at September 20, 2016 06:18 PM (iFgwk)

52 Gyms are notorious money losers.

Successful non-corporate, non-franchise gyms are notorious money launderers too.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:18 PM (21hN3)

53 If you live outside a few special zip codes you don't matter.

Good. Underestimate us. Someday we will hunt these people for sport.

Posted by: Dave at Buffalo Roam at September 20, 2016 06:18 PM (j2YcJ)

54 Well, my hair stylist who had a bad surgery experience in April, ended up being paralyzed from the neck down, has regained use of his upper body, but is in a wheelchair.


I look like Hillary in her longer-haired days. (Well, not really.) Looking for a new stylist, after using my guy for eight years.

He needs an attorney.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:16 PM (1ZOkK)

He's better get one before the statute of limitations runs out.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:19 PM (0mRoj)

55 I wonder what percentage of a food has to be contaminated before they recall everything made by that food processing plant that day? I wonder if it is something like the percentages of refugees that pose a danger.

Posted by: Rory
________

For food poisoning to be considered an outbreak requires 2 reported cases.

Posted by: FireHorse at September 20, 2016 06:19 PM (EJsAU)

56 47
I thought my platinum membership gave me automatic notifications of new
threads and gave us VIPs exclusive rights to post in new threads for
fifteen minutes.



Was I duped?!

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:16 PM (21hN3)

Your card expired

Posted by: Pixy's Hamsters at September 20, 2016 06:19 PM (NbJXF)

57 wasn't the black swan a rip off of blades of glory?

Posted by: Bigby's Ouija Board at September 20, 2016 06:19 PM (U0lQa)

58 Dont underestimate the value of a high-carb diet. There are several caveats though.

Posted by: TrumpCurious at September 20, 2016 06:19 PM (hkWhg)

59 >>>And he's Greek Orthodox Christian according to wikipedia, not Muslim as one might think from the name.

yeah i just saw something about him being taught by Jesuits or something. He made some vague allusion, at least, to encountering jesuits before. I don't know if the reference was intended to be complimentary or derogatory.

Posted by: ace at September 20, 2016 06:20 PM (dciA+)

60 wasn't the black swan a rip off of blades of glory?

Posted by: Bigby's Ouija Board

Close. Blacula.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:20 PM (k0G44)

61 >>I thought my platinum membership gave me automatic notifications of new threads and gave us VIPs exclusive rights to post in new threads for fifteen minutes.

Was I duped?!
Posted by: Walter Freeman

Probably sent your payment to the wrong place. I can give you a better address to send the check to.

Posted by: Aviator at September 20, 2016 06:20 PM (5huyv)

62 Wait, it was this guy's idea to have Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis bump rugs?


He deserves an award of some sort.

Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:20 PM (mFQ4L)

63 Irony died at least a decade ago. Dead, gone, done



Posted by: maladroit Chinese sayings at September 20, 2016 06:21 PM (/542q)

64 IYIs gave us AGW theory.

First were the pseudo-scientists with their models.

Then there were the IYI shamans like ManBearPig to sell it.

Then there were the gullible IYI masses to believe it.

Posted by: Ignoramus at September 20, 2016 06:21 PM (r1fLd)

65 That's almost pudding-worthy.

There's been a dearth of such moments the last eight years.

Posted by: sulla at September 20, 2016 06:21 PM (0GucZ)

66 *whispering* The password is... Skittles.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:21 PM (k0G44)

67 You know who I hate with the heat of a million suns? DOCTOR Sanjay Gupta.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:22 PM (1ZOkK)

68 Wasn't The Black Swan a pirate played by Tyrone Power?

Posted by: steevy at September 20, 2016 06:22 PM (fA75F)

69 yeah, Mooselims don't name their sons "Nicholas"



Posted by: maladroit Chinese sayings at September 20, 2016 06:22 PM (/542q)

70 Jane, that's awful for him and I'm glad he's getting somewhat better.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:22 PM (dEQP3)

71 It's a good piece, but it's already been cited/linked by everyone from Guido Fawkes to Vox Day in the past week or so...

Posted by: JEM at September 20, 2016 06:22 PM (TppKb)

72 Ok, if nobody else will do it...

#BlackSwansMatter

Posted by: Yuimetal at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (iFgwk)

73 Taleb is way too overinvested in these microstatus battles between people who can afford $500 bottles of wine. If he were really so badass he a) wouldn't care or b) would be so wealthy he didn't care about what the monkeys do to fine tune their status.

Posted by: bjk at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (x2rNW)

74 I can't quote anymore because I'm coming all over myself.

I can help with that.

Posted by: Sandra Flook at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (Tyii7)

75 I like this guy.

Posted by: Meremortal... at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (3myMJ)

76 >>>wasn't the black swan a rip off of blades of glory?

Posted by: Bigby's Ouija Board

hah.. I think I made that claim, right?

Posted by: ace at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (dciA+)

77 >>His Jerk Sock must be at the Cleaners.
Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:15 PM (mFQ4L)

I suspect he purchases them by the gross.
Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable
--------
Nah, he barrows them from unlocked lockers at the gym, then tosses them back in later.

Posted by: Aviator at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (5huyv)

78 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034522/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Posted by: steevy at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (fA75F)

79 Years ago, I remember following certain faculty members around campus and noting the distinct sense of ass when my proximity to their persons became less than ideal.

Posted by: Fritz at September 20, 2016 06:23 PM (wOc4Q)

80 I believe Ace linked the incomparable Dr. Jason Fung in one of the health-monitoring threads. Fung has called out the medical profession for continuing to advocate the same practices that have caused the obesity/diabetes epidemic. These same doc then chastise patients for failing to make any progress. Recently, Jason Fung pulled back the curtain on what passes for "continuing medical education."

If you've been losing confidence in your doc as well as the medical profession as a whole, this may explain it.

Fung is a brave man.

If you missed it, here it is.

http://bit.ly/2cL0er4

Posted by: SMOD 2016! at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (YeKKY)

81 I laughed very hard and loud at the sentence after the excerpt

Posted by: Clarney at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (dgO4h)

82 The intellectual economic geniuses (genii?) in California keep raising taxes and adding regulations so my company announced yesterday they are moving all manufacturing from California to our plant in Texas and shutting the CA place down. Jobs will be lost. I bet those genii think they're WINNING!

Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (+eR2D)

83 Jeepers, creepers, where'd I get those peepers?
Jeepers, creepers, where'd I get those eyes?

Posted by: Hillary! at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (LQLeS)

84 I literally have nothing to add here.

Posted by: Beard, Sweatband, and Aviators at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (s0t8a)

85
Shibboleth:

Nassim Taleb:

"I Prefer Sanders To Trump But Absolutely No Hillary"

"No SHillary"

http://tinyurl.com/hfpt887

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (kdS6q)

86 >>My doctor (state senator -R) reminded me again today that salt is EVIL and no one needs to ever add it to food.


You'd think a doctor would understand chemistry....

Posted by: Lizzy at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (NOIQH)

87 I don't even know if that was on topic, but I thought it fit. Meh.

Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (+eR2D)

88 "The IYI pathologizes others for doing things he doesn't understand
without ever realizing it is his understanding that may be limited."

G.K. Chesterson on reformers:

In
the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them,
there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will
probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain
institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence
or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes
gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us
clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer
will do well to answer: "If you don't see the use of it, I
certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when
you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may
allow you to destroy it."

This paradox rests on the most
elementary common sense. The gate or fence did not grow there. It was
not set up by somnambulists who built it in their sleep. It is highly
improbable that it was put there by escaped lunatics who were for
some reason loose in the street. Some person had some reason for
thinking it would be a good thing for somebody. And until we know
what the reason was, we really cannot judge whether the reason was
reasonable. It is extremely probable that we have overlooked some
whole aspect of the question, if something set up by human beings
like ourselves seems to be entirely meaningless and mysterious. There
are reformers who get over this difficulty by assuming that all their
fathers were fools; but if that be so, we can only say that folly
appears to be a hereditary disease. But the truth is that nobody has
any business to destroy a social institution until he has really seen
it as an historical institution. If he knows how it arose, and what
purposes it was supposed to serve, he may really be able to say that
they were bad purposes, that they have since become bad purposes, or
that they are purposes which are no longer served. But if he simply
stares at the thing as a senseless monstrosity that has somehow
sprung up in his path, it is he and not the traditionalist who is
suffering from an illusion.

Posted by: Steve Skubinna at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (G8YYJ)

89 I would be seriously afraid of them if they were anywhere near as smart
as they think they are.

Posted by: Roman Maroni at September 20, 2016 06:07 PM (vCA4F)

Hence their panic about Trump, who goes off script and doesn't react the way a gentlemanly loser like Romney does.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V.deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&so there at September 20, 2016 06:25 PM (P8951)

90 30
Okay I can't quote anymore because I'm coming all over myself.



--------



This happens WAY more than you let on. Be honest.

Posted by: fixerupper at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (JmjOe)


He's like the hillary clinton of ejaculators. Seldom seen for weeks, makes one public appearance, and then has to be thrown in a van like a spent, self-satisfied side of beef.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:25 PM (QvJot)

91 >> I can help with that.

We have a better solution.

Think of Helen Thomas' squirt.

Posted by: EPA, Superfund Department at September 20, 2016 06:25 PM (TppKb)

92 IYI, thy name is Jonathan Gruber.

Posted by: Lady in Black - Death to the Man Bun at September 20, 2016 06:25 PM (+FSld)

93 Double parentheses, impressive.

Posted by: Javems at September 20, 2016 06:26 PM (yOqwj)

94 With psychology papers replicating less than 40%, dietary advice reversing after 30 years of fatphobia, macroeconomic analysis working worse than astrology, the appointment of Bernanke who was less than clueless of the risks, and pharmaceutical trials replicating at best only 1/3 of the time, people are perfectly entitled to rely on their own ancestral instinct and listen to their grandmothers (or Montaigne and such filtered classical knowledge) with a better track record than these policymaking goons.

The are Rube Goldberg machines less clunky that that sentence.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at September 20, 2016 06:26 PM (V3IFq)

95 I'm not against expertise per se but I'm against this notion that
experts are infallible fonts of Divine Truth from Blessed Mother Gaia
Herself and how dare you question them, you plebe.



The world is complex and vast and we are in a dim room grasping for
answers and maybe, just maybe, we (I) should all be a little bit more
humble in what we think we know and what we can do.



This is so right.


It is notable I think that not so many of the intellectuals preaching this scientism-based oligarchy of the credentialed are actual physical sciences. Because studying the physical sciences definitely teaches humility. It is a strange place and there is a vast amount that we don't know.

Posted by: chemjeff at September 20, 2016 06:26 PM (gXKl3)

96 You know what they say about The Jesuits and The Black Swan....

Posted by: Pepe, the Irredeemable at September 20, 2016 06:26 PM (Lrxq8)

97 Think of Helen Thomas' squirt.





Posted by: EPA


Hey, squirt!

Posted by: Eddie Haskell at September 20, 2016 06:26 PM (k0G44)

98 Dangerous GMO advocate??? That kind of discredits his entire thesis

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at September 20, 2016 06:26 PM (39g3+)

99 I prefer Grubers of the Hans variety.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:26 PM (21hN3)

100 90 >>My doctor (state senator -R) reminded me again today that salt is EVIL and no one needs to ever add it to food.


You'd think a doctor would understand chemistry....


Posted by: Lizzy at September 20, 2016 06:24 PM (NOIQH)

I used to work in Medical IT... trust me, there is a difference between educated and intelligent...

Doctors, have lots of education...

Posted by: Don Q. at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (qf6WZ)

101 David Brooks was recently on AM Joe whining about the uneducated rubes in flyover country being Trump's biggest supporters.

He's such an elitist, prissy douche. He makes Barry look like Hulk in comparison.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (1ZOkK)

102 Catch any walleyes?

Posted by: Hillary Fisher at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (LQLeS)

103 Taleb is a pompous ass, but that's one of the things I like about him. I've read all of his books and find them quite enjoyable and interesting.

Posted by: SH at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (gmeXX)

104 I do enjoy the butthurt that the intellectual betters get from reading these things though. Oh do I enjoy it.

Posted by: DangerGirl and her 1.21 gigawatt Sanity Prod at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (+eR2D)

105 Mike Rosenberg (whoever he is) on Twitter: "Based on actual odds of getting killed by terrorist refugee, you'd need 10.8 billion skittles to find 3 killers"

Taleb's reply: "This is pure nonsense, statistically."

Posted by: FireHorse at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (EJsAU)

106 >>Dr Sebastian Gorka, terrorism expert, has a great saying: "________ (insert stupid phrase here such as "lone wolves") is designed by the government to make you stupid."


>>I love that. He's so right.

Yea, I've heard him say that and I agree. It's one of those things that sounds like it should be a "smart take" but it's just dumb and meaningless.

Posted by: JackStraw at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (/tuJf)

107 Could someone explain this:

I have never known what "ManBearPig" has to do with Gore and global warming. Yes; I know that Gore is a proponent of Global warming and is a crook and charlatan, but manbearpig means what?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (EnGQE)

108 The Black Swan.... it's about a basketball game, right?


Think about it...

I denounce my deplorable self.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (k0G44)

109 Here's the thing. By various tests to measure smartitude, I am very very smart. Because I excel at taking tests.

I am stunned on a daily basis that I manage to keep myself alive from day to day.

The Good Ex Boyfriend was a no shit genius. Off the scale smart. He was even worse at basic common sense than I was and that's saying something.

Neither of us would ever think for a moment that we should tell anyone else how to live because the mouthbreathing plebes down the block seemed to have a far better grasp on basic life principles than either of us.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (dEQP3)

110
I have never known what "ManBearPig" has to do
with Gore and global warming. Yes; I know that Gore is a proponent of
Global warming and is a crook and charlatan, but manbearpig means what?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (EnGQE)


It's a South Park episode.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (1ZOkK)

111 Trump is going to lose ..............

Posted by: name at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (En9Fa)

112 You keep those goddamn swans away from me!

Posted by: Leda at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (0mRoj)

113 112 It is from a Southpark episode about Gore.

Posted by: steevy at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (fA75F)

114 49
True story...

A friend's sister and brother-in-law wanted to own
their own business. They both have masters degrees in math and
engineering, I believe. They opened a gym. Went out of business in about
three months. Three. Months. Filed bankruptcy. The brother-in-law now
teaches math in high school.

Math.


Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:17 PM (k0G44)

That's not too surprising. Being good at math doesn't necessarily mean being good at running a business. It's a much different skill set.

Posted by: chemjeff at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (gXKl3)

115 I like his Fat Tony character - the street wise guy. My favorite Fat Tony story is that if a coin is flipped 20 times and the first 19 are heads. Fat Tony is not going to say the 20th time is 50/50 which is what the IYI would say. Fat Tony knows that the coin is loaded and it will come up heads again.

Posted by: SH at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (gmeXX)

116 Hubris is the curse of our times.

Posted by: Ice-T at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (rwI+c)

117 I have never known what "ManBearPig" has to do with Gore and global warming. Yes; I know that Gore is a proponent of Global warming and is a crook and charlatan, but manbearpig means what?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (EnGQE)


Its a southpark thing...

Posted by: Don Q. at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (qf6WZ)

118 112 I have never known what "ManBearPig" has to do with
Gore and global warming. Yes; I know that Gore is a proponent of Global
warming and is a crook and charlatan, but manbearpig means what?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (EnGQE)

It came from Southpark. Al Gore came to warn them of the manbearpig coming to them.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (mpXpK)

119 Climate science has more in common with economics than physics or chemistry.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (21hN3)

120 #35 "My doctor (state senator -R) reminded me again today that salt is EVIL and no one needs to ever add it to food."

Jane D'oh, my doctor told me that about 20 percent of his patients have problems from too much salt in their diets. That's enough to be wary of it, but not enough to call it EVIL.

Posted by: Uma Thurmond's Feet at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (gHly9)

121 Dammit,

LEMONADE! IT SAYS LEMONADE!

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (rwI+c)

122 Okay I can't quote anymore because I'm coming all over myself.

Look ... alot of times, I think some of you folks just kiss Ace's ass because he's in charge ...

... but when he switches gears from what's obviously a pretty solid line of thought - and just goes straight up vulgar like this - I laugh my ass off.

There's a "timing" to it - a cadence - right down to how the sentence is presented on the page.

That's pretty damn good.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (fiGNd)

123 When Prez'nit Jizya glanced my way, I splooged mightily.

Posted by: Davis Brooks at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (Tyii7)

124 Do I really want to read this thread topic?

Posted by: Skip at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (O18ol)

125 It's a South Park episode.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:29 PM (1ZOkK)

Thanks, Jane. I have never seen an episode of South Park-only little clips on the internet.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (EnGQE)

126 112 Here ya go, FenelongSpoke

I looked it up on Urban Dictionary:

manbearpig
From an episode of South Park featuring Al Gore. In the episode Gore is depicted as a paranoid guy who believes in a non-existent monster--"Manbearpig"--that is part man, part bear, and part pig. He believes the Manbearpig is a great threat.

South Park's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, don't believe in global warming and the episode "Manbearpig" is their way of saying that when Al Gore talks about the dangers of global warming he is getting all worked up over something that doesn't even exist.
"The South Park guys think that global warming is a myth just like the Manbearpig, even though there's tons of evidence that it's happening, and they make fun of Gore for worrying about it."

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (LQLeS)

127 Looks like the gubermint is going to run a nationwide emergency alert test on the 28th: http://tinyurl.com/jrh42rb


According to the article, it appears that it's already a massive charlie foxtrot.

Posted by: Country Singer (gab @BertG) at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (GUBah)

128 I liked the article, but I'm not sure what his beef is WRT GMOs. That's not a controversy I've studied in any depth.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (0mRoj)

129 Because studying the physical sciences definitely teaches humility. It is a strange place and there is a vast amount that we don't know.

Posted by: chemjeff
________

Same for the social sciences, if it's done seriously, rigorously and honestly.

Posted by: FireHorse at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (EJsAU)

130 "macroeconomic analysis working worse than astrology"

hahahahaha.

Two jobs you can be wrong every day and still be working?

1.Weatherman/woman/person/being

2/ Economist.

/I liked economics in high school? Why did I make that left turn to the "arts?" Why? What is wrong with me? Bueller? Bueller?

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who now just wants to yell at stupid people at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (tvyXw)

131 112
Could someone explain this:



I have never known what "ManBearPig" has to do with Gore and global warming. Yes; I know that Gore is a proponent of Global warming and is a crook and charlatan, but manbearpig means what?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (EnGQE)


Manbearpig, a Southpark character that cameo Al Gore was professing to everyone in Southpark was real.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (QvJot)

132 114: "Neither of us would ever think for a moment that we should tell anyone else how to live because the mouthbreathing plebes down the block seemed to have a far better grasp on basic life principles than either of us."

*nods slowly in agreement*

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (21hN3)

133 So morons. Now you see that evil will always triumph. Because good is dumb.

Posted by: IYIs at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (FKOs9)

134 Speaking of towering intellects, Whoopi wants to know when we're going to start profiling "all white people."

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (1ZOkK)

135 I didn't read the book Black Swan, but am a bit familiar with it from the context of the financial crisis.

In Europe there were no black swans, only white. #1 So you could conclude that there were no black swans. #2 Then Europeans went to Australia, where there were black swans.

Thus concluding #1 was erroneous. So the metaphor of the black swan is to be skeptical about what you think you know. It's related to Karl Popper's idea that in science you can't prove something true, only that something is false.

In finance, Wall Street hired PhDs to create models that assumed away what they thought were low risk events (the tail on probability distributions). When applied to the markets wholesale, collective behavior created systemic risk that actually caused the supposed low risk events to happen.

Posted by: Ignoramus at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (r1fLd)

136 Dammit,

LEMONADE! IT SAYS LEMONADE!
Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (rwI+c)



I love that commercial so much. Delicious!

I also love all the Peyton on Sunday morning ads, particularly the one where he calls Eli and if you look closesly he's using a Jitterbug to make the call.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (dEQP3)

137 Reader's Digest version: They live in a bubble.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (9mTYi)

138 132 "The South Park guys think that global warming is a
myth just like the Manbearpig, even though there's tons of evidence that
it's happening, and they make fun of Gore for worrying about it."

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (LQLeS)

There is no real evidence. The entire thing is fraud using fake manipulated data and lies.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (mpXpK)

139 124
but it's just dumb and meaningless.

Such as "Stronger Together."

Or "we need to be smarter when dealing with violent extremists."


And???? It's all nothingness.
Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 06:30 PM (t7NFP)

Work smarter, not harder. Think outside the box.

Governance by corporate cliche'.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:33 PM (0mRoj)

140 Reminds me of that old jokey reference to a frigid woman: She wouldn't come if you called her.

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:33 PM (LQLeS)

141 Economics is forever explaining the past.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:33 PM (rwI+c)

142 I love his comment about rent seeking corporations: they do it because it is cheaper and more certain than R&D.

Just ask JP Morgan how its creation, Dodd Frank, has worked out. Best Competitive Weapon Ever.

Posted by: MTF at September 20, 2016 06:33 PM (/m8T6)

143 Intellectuals keep trying to reinvent the wheel. Education keeps trying to make 2+2=5. People keep trying to make socialism the cure all. History ain't getting much action these days.

Posted by: Ben Had at September 20, 2016 06:33 PM (FrlvA)

144 Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (LQLeS)

Thanks; I appreciate the info on it.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:33 PM (EnGQE)

145 G.K. Chesterson on reformers:

In
the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them,
there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will
probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain
institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence
or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes
gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us
clear it away."


Funny, that's exactly what I said about my dick and balls.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at September 20, 2016 06:33 PM (iFgwk)

146 It's a much different skill set.


Posted by: chemjeff

But three months? You'd think they could add up what they had in savings and realize they would go broke unless 200 or so people bought memberships every day during the first month. That story is my go-to tale of how masters degrees sometimes don't have anything to do with smart.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (k0G44)

147 BTW, I read The Black Swan a few years ago.

I don't remember anything from it, but I do think I finished it.

So I'm guessing it was "OK."

Kind of like the stuff from Schiff and Rickards; might be useful, might not be, roll the dice.

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who now just wants to yell at stupid people at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (tvyXw)

148 Half Man.
Half Bear.
Half Pig.


They didn't even get the joke.

Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (mFQ4L)

149 John Kerry.

I need say no more.

Posted by: Cicero, Profoundly Deplorable But Pretty Dependable at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (4HySM)

150 Tons of evidence.

Posted by: Ask any hockey stick at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (Tyii7)

151 It's related to Karl Popper's idea that in science you can't prove something true, only that something is false.


I loved his penguins.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (rwI+c)

152 Come here. Not there, I just had the carpet cleaned.

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (LQLeS)

153 @135: "Same for the social sciences, if it's done seriously, rigorously and honestly."

Huge if. Spectacularly huge if.

Predictive modeling can be terribly humbling if your an honest person. Otherwise, it's much too easy to jam results into the holes prescribed by your initial conclusions, then convince others that such science is irrefutable 'cause science.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (21hN3)

154
"The world is complex and vast and we are in a dim room grasping for answers and maybe, just maybe, we (I) should all be a little bit more humble in what we think we know and what we can do."

Exactly. The biggest sin of our time is hubris. And in the case of IYI's and their young college-age followers, it is maddening because of their confident, unquestioning assertiveness about things they are utterly ignorant of.

"All religions suck,and Christianity is just as, if not more, brutal and oppressive as Islam."

Anybody who know anything at all about the history and theological beliefs of Christianity vs. Islam knows that's horseshit. And yet , no matter how many facts you throw at them, they're convinced they're the smart ones and you're just some redneck Christianist.

I'm glad Taleb brought up scientism. Ah yeah, the "I love science sexually" crowd who know basically that global warming is real because of DeGrasse Tyson told them so.

Really studying things is hard. It does indeed make you aware of how much you don't know. It's much easier to mouth today's conventional wisdom and to feel smart and smug while you're doing so.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V.deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&so there at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (P8951)

155 I recommend all of his books. He has sort of unique style that took some getting used to, but once you do he has some interesting thoughts.

Posted by: SH at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (gmeXX)

156 *by your initial suppositions

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (21hN3)

157 Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (EnGQE)


Here's a manbearpig clip: http://tinyurl.com/j8hmbzc

Posted by: Country Singer (gab @BertG) at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (GUBah)

158 >>
I also love all the Peyton on Sunday morning ads, particularly the one where he calls Eli and if you look closesly he's using a Jitterbug to make the call.


The Marco Polo commercial has been killing me.

Posted by: garrett at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (mFQ4L)

159 >>>134 I liked the article, but I'm not sure what his beef is WRT GMOs. That's not a controversy I've studied in any depth.
Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (0mRoj)

You really shouldn't agree with Taleb on everything. I think even he would say that. Plus sometimes I got the feeling he just had a contrarian streak to him. So he's really an individual.

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (PtF19)

160 Boy, Orwell sure had these folks' number:


What can you do against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persists in his lunacy?

~George Orwell

***

So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot.

~George Orwell

***

The average intellectual of the Left believed, for instance, that the war was lost in 1940, that the Germans were bound to overrun Egypt in 1942, that the Japanese would never be driven out of the lands that they had conquered, and that the Anglo-American bombing was making no impression on Germany. He could believe these things because his hatred of the British ruling class forbade him to admit that British plans could succeed. There is no limit to the follies that can be swallowed if one is under the influence of feelings of this kind. I have heard it confidently stated, for instance, that the American troops had been brought to Europe not to fight the Germans but to crush an English revolution. One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool.

~George Orwell

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (sdi6R)

161 #BlackSwansMatter

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (uz/Pv)

162 The thing I like about the Lemonade commercial is the thought the 3 people asking if the kids are selling ice tea is they are sure they are.

Posted by: Skip at September 20, 2016 06:35 PM (O18ol)

163 140
Speaking of towering intellects, Whoopi wants to know when we're going to start profiling "all white people."


Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:32 PM (1ZOkK)


For what? Having no rhythm is not a crime.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:36 PM (QvJot)

164 I'm glad Taleb brought up scientism. Ah yeah, the "I love science
sexually" crowd who know basically that global warming is real because
of DeGrasse Tyson told them so.



Most of that "science" they love is just photographs. They effing love photographs.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:36 PM (k0G44)

165 ManBearPig is real! I'm super cereal!!

Posted by: Al Gore at September 20, 2016 06:36 PM (0mRoj)

166 The perfect position for IYI Obama is UN Secretary General.

It's the ultimate no-skin-in-the-game position to give some IYI asshole a megaphone to vent his stupid little prejudices.

Posted by: Scalia's Ghost at September 20, 2016 06:36 PM (fgOnp)

167 But three months? You'd think they could add up what they had in savings
and realize they would go broke unless 200 or so people bought
memberships every day during the first month. That story is my go-to
tale of how masters degrees sometimes don't have anything to do with
smart.
---

Yeah, one of my former clients (the one with the bad temper that I liked much more than the one I had to work with) didn't graduate from high school. He keeps that on the down low, but it's true.

They've been in business for almost 20 years and are doing OK; he'd be better off without his partner the passive aggressive nut job who is a college graduate, but that's my opinion.

So college degree not equal to business success.

Business success does not guarantee happiness.

/however, if you have enough business success you can afford your medical care!

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who now just wants to yell at stupid people at September 20, 2016 06:37 PM (tvyXw)

168 Your daily long read:

https://goo.gl/xDPSLA

Posted by: EPA, Superfund Department at September 20, 2016 06:37 PM (TppKb)

169 Neither of us would ever think for a moment that we should tell anyone else how to live because the mouthbreathing plebes down the block seemed to have a far better grasp on basic life principles than either of us.

AtC ... I was kind of the same way. National Merit, 4.0, the whole nine yards. Accepted to MIT, Purdue, Rose Hulman - didn't matter. Couldn't afford it.

And I honestly think going to a "lesser" school, doing the GI Bill, working construction, and taking less than stellar engineering jobs out of college saved my ass by kicking my ass.

I would have been royally screwed if I would have stayed on the strictly academic track. I honestly don't think I knew who I was until about 30 - after going through all that shit.

I'd like to buy you a beer sometime.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:37 PM (fiGNd)

170 **Karl Popper

Hell of a harmonica player too.

Posted by: Dave at Buffalo Roam at September 20, 2016 06:37 PM (j2YcJ)

171 134 I liked the article, but I'm not sure what his beef is WRT GMOs. That's not a controversy I've studied in any depth.
Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:31 PM (0mRoj)

You really shouldn't agree with Taleb on everything. I think even he would say that. Plus sometimes I got the feeling he just had a contrarian streak to him. So he's really an individual.

----------

I like him for the same reason I like reading about paleo diet / lifestyle. Taleb believes in ancestral wisdom - which is pretty much the heart of conservatism.

Posted by: SH at September 20, 2016 06:37 PM (gmeXX)

172 It's what should go on their tombstones.

Posted by: x at September 20, 2016 06:38 PM (nFwvY)

173 134 I liked the article, but I'm not sure what his beef is WRT GMOs. That's not a controversy I've studied in any depth."

While I haven't either, it seems like the IYI is normally anti-GMO, not for it. You see plenty of IYIs in the organic aisles of grocery stores.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V.deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&so there at September 20, 2016 06:38 PM (P8951)

174 I've met lots of people who were smart. I've met a fewer number of people who were wise. Knowledge with wisdom is a very wonderful thing.

Posted by: grammie winger's deplorable basket at September 20, 2016 06:38 PM (dFi94)

175 I didn't read the book but I saw the movie, Black Swan. Natalie Portman played a psychotic ballerina.
It all somehow ties together when you think about it.

Posted by: Obama the Interlekchul at September 20, 2016 06:39 PM (LQLeS)

176 Venn Diagram of anti-GMO and anti-vaccine folks is mostly overlap.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:39 PM (21hN3)

177 Speaking of towering intellects, Whoopi wants to know when we're going to start profiling "all white people."


"A bank was just robbed at the corner of 4th and Main. The perp is described as a lone black male, 6'2", wearing jeans and a hoodie."

"Men, set up a roadblock and begin questioning every white person who comes through."

Posted by: Cicero, Profoundly Deplorable But Pretty Dependable at September 20, 2016 06:39 PM (4HySM)

178 So college degree not equal to business success.
Posted by: shibumi

Yep. My dad didn't graduate from college. Too impatient to go start making money. I graduated from college. My house would fit in my dad's living room. Literally. He did very, very well.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:39 PM (k0G44)

179 Just a drive-by to say Thank You to AtC for that ESA article. I'm in tears.
If you didn't see it, search for: New Yorker Pets Welcome. Hilarious.

Posted by: Chi at September 20, 2016 06:39 PM (WcF0b)

180 Let's recap

Say, for example, you donate $1,062,857 to Media Matters for America. This is how David Brock would have used your charitable donation in 2014:

Media Matters would receive your $1,062,857 donation
The Bonner Group would earn a $132,857 commission
Media Matters would retain $930,000

Next, Media Matters would give what's left of your entire donation, $930,000, to the Franklin Education Forum
The Bonner Group would 'earn' a $116,250 commission
The Franklin Education Forum would retain $813,750

The Franklin Education Forum would then forward the remaining $813,750 to The Franklin Forum
The Bonner Group would 'earn' a $101,718 commission
The Franklin Forum would retain $712,031

In the end, Brock's solicitor would have pocketed $350,825, almost a third of your initial donation! That's a far cry from the advertised 12.5% commission.

As bizarre as that scenario may sound, this is exactly what David Brock did in 2014.

Posted by: undocumented solicitor at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (e8kgV)

181 >> While I haven't either, it seems like the IYI is
>> normally anti-GMO, not for it. You see plenty of IYIs
>> in the organic aisles of grocery stores.

This is absolutely true.

There's an incredible overlap of the anti-vax, anti-GMO, global warmist, etc. Axis of Stupidity.

Posted by: JEM at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (TppKb)

182 181 I've met lots of people who were smart. I've met a fewer number of people who were wise. Knowledge with wisdom is a very wonderful thing.

Posted by: grammie winger's deplorable basket at September 20, 2016 06:38 PM (dFi94)

Unfortunately wisdom is something usually acquired through life kicking the ever-loving shit out of you a few times.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (0mRoj)

183 Oh FFS, this is just brilliant. On second thought, I'm surprised it wasn't put into place sooner: let's let the lazy takers get even lazier!!



http://tinyurl.com/jstefdl

Posted by: Country Singer (gab @BertG) at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (GUBah)

184 I liked the article, but I'm not sure what his beef is WRT GMOs. That's not a controversy I've studied in any depth."

While I haven't either, it seems like the IYI is normally anti-GMO, not for it. You see plenty of IYIs in the organic aisles of grocery stores.

----------

Taleb is also anti-fracking. So he definitely sits on the liberal side from time to time.

Posted by: SH at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (gmeXX)

185
But three months? You'd think they could add up
what they had in savings and realize they would go broke unless 200 or
so people bought memberships every day during the first month. That
story is my go-to tale of how masters degrees sometimes don't have
anything to do with smart.


Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (k0G44)

They most likely DID realize that they were going broke, because they can do math, but they likely had some rotten ideas on how best to attract customers to their gym. You don't learn marketing in math class.
So it's not that they aren't "smart", it's that they aren't smart at *everything*. Which is kind of a duh. No one is.
Incidentally, to be one of those elite scientists nowadays, requires a great deal of marketing skill along with a great deal of scientific talent, because you have to sell your idea to funding agencies in order to get money, which is hard to do.

Posted by: chemjeff at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (gXKl3)

186 The science is settled.

Posted by: Backstroking Polar Bears at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (Tyii7)

187 I am stunned on a daily basis that I manage to keep myself alive from day to day

Yep, know just what you mean.

Luck - Random Chance plays a bigger part in most lives than people think.

Posted by: Philo Gomez at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (CeGsO)

188 Taleb believes in ancestral wisdom - which is pretty much the heart of conservatism.

Tradition is the heart of conservatism. As Chesterton put it: "Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about."

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (rwI+c)

189 Huge if. Spectacularly huge if.

Predictive modeling can be terribly humbling if your an honest person. Otherwise, it's much too easy to jam results into the holes prescribed by your initial conclusions, then convince others that such science is irrefutable 'cause science.
Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:34 PM (21hN3)


And then there's people not knowing how to use Excel.

It appears that about 20% of papers in genomic journals have erroneous gene name conversions. Why? Because people didn't know or forgot that Excel has a standard that converts certain text strings into dates and those happen to match gene names.


http://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-016-1044-7


Then there was a huge study on I forget what that the findings were exactly backwards because a data set got flipped. Peer review my enormous white ass.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (dEQP3)

190 To realize that you know nothing is the beginning of wisdom.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (rwI+c)

191 There's IYI, and then there are IYI wannabees like deGrasse Tyson and Paul Krugman.

Posted by: Roy at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (fWLrt)

192 What we generally call participation in the political process, he calls by two distinct designations: "democracy" when it fits the IYI, and "populism" when the plebeians dare voting in a way that contradicts his preferences.

I especially liked that observation. I don't mind being the "populist" but admit I was being "Otherized" with the designation without really realizing it. Yet another red flag to use whenever some chatterbox on the idiot-tube tells me "it's a populist uprising among the voters" and not just another day in democracy. Odds are those who've used the vernacular as virtue-signaling smear are already on my s***list, but now I'll have yet one more profiling tool to identify those to be ignored and mocked and, hopefully, bullied into unemployment.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (1CroS)

193 >>Economics is forever explaining the past.

Not really. Free market economists like Friedman have been proven right many more times than not with their predictions.

Problem is, we have a significant portion of our population that believe in the AGW of economics, socialism. No matter how many times it is proven wrong the economic elites of the left continue to press forward with this idiocy. It's difficult to fix stupid without force.

I would love to see Trump ask Hillary why Venezuela is such a disaster.

Posted by: JackStraw at September 20, 2016 06:42 PM (/tuJf)

194 As bizarre as that scenario may sound, this is exactly what David Brock did in 2014.


Posted by: undocumented solicitor


I declare shenanigans!!! It seems like all the high dollar vermin like Brock only make money with shell games these days.

Posted by: Dang Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:42 PM (k0G44)

195 The thing about skittlegate is that it let's the plebes know that they must eat from a different bowl than our democrat overlords.

Posted by: Darth Randall at September 20, 2016 06:42 PM (6n332)

196 >>>It's related to Karl Popper's idea that in science you can't prove something true, only that something is false.

I think he was saying that a scientific claim is meaningless unless you can describe the conditions under which it would be false (that would exclude deductive claims, such as mathematical claims, and the principle of falsifiability itself).

Similar to the invisible gardener. If you can explain away all objections to the invisible gardener, it's not clear what you're claiming when you claim that there is an invisible gardener.

Posted by: Yuimetal at September 20, 2016 06:42 PM (iFgwk)

197 BTW - The article should be called Taleb's Mirror.

Posted by: Roy at September 20, 2016 06:43 PM (fWLrt)

198 Liberals impulses are almost always bad. They Center on the emotional rather than the intellectual. They really don't believe in democracy they just say they do. When they get in power it's more akin to anarchy for oligarchy. They corrupt government to meet their needs they don't recognize the minority. they demagogue issues and demonize anybody who doesn't agree with them just look at the Emmys.

The real horrible people are in the mirror and a day of reckoning is coming

Posted by: Marcus T at September 20, 2016 06:43 PM (51gt9)

199 So, an IYI and a Neo-Mandarin walk into a bar...

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 20, 2016 06:43 PM (SeD0w)

200 Unfortunately wisdom is something usually acquired through life kicking the ever-loving shit out of you a few times.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (0mRoj)
=============================================

I agree - that usually seems to be the case.

Posted by: grammie winger's deplorable basket at September 20, 2016 06:44 PM (dFi94)

201 191
They're pretty much today's equivalent to the pompous Aristocrats who wore those ridiculous clothes and powdered wigs.

They live in their little bubbles, lording over all the little people, thinking they know what's best.
Posted by: Mister Magoo's

----------------------------

If I recall from my world history course, it didn't end well for the "Let them eat cake" contingent.

"Do you hear the people sing,
Singing the song of angry men..."

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:44 PM (LQLeS)

202 I agree - that usually seems to be the case.

Oh ... ditto to that. You are preachin' to the choir.

But you know ... honestly ... I can't name an ass-kickin' that I didn't have coming. Maybe not at the time - but sometimes life was just making up for some other shit I got away with.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:45 PM (fiGNd)

203 Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (rwI+c)
==============================================


That's a marvelous quote. Thanks.

Posted by: grammie winger's deplorable basket at September 20, 2016 06:46 PM (dFi94)

204 I'd like to buy you a beer sometime.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:37 PM (fiGNd)


I would be honored to drink it.


Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:46 PM (dEQP3)

205 Just remember; people wore powdered wigs because they had shaved their own hair off, because of they had lice.

Something to think about.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:46 PM (rwI+c)

206 The Black Swan is a great book but his first book Fooled By Randomness was better in my mind. You read that book and you can help but see the randomness all around you that other people consider information, evidence or proof.

Great author and certainly approaches the world with a different lens. The correct lens in my opinion.

Posted by: scofflaw_x at September 20, 2016 06:46 PM (MkKuP)

207 "Do you hear the people sing,
Singing the song of angry men..."

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:44 PM (LQLeS)


Les Deplorables....

Posted by: Don Q. at September 20, 2016 06:47 PM (qf6WZ)

208 "Here's the thing. By various tests to measure smartitude, I am very very smart. Because I excel at taking tests.



I am stunned on a daily basis that I manage to keep myself alive from day to day.



The Good Ex Boyfriend was a no shit genius. Off the scale smart.
He was even worse at basic common sense than I was and that's saying
something.



Neither of us would ever think for a moment that we should tell
anyone else how to live because the mouthbreathing plebes down the block
seemed to have a far better grasp on basic life principles than either
of us
"
-Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:28 PM (dEQP3)

And I stand at the opposite end of the spectrum. While my vocabulary may be extensive, I have dealt with "The Streets", intimately.

My opinions are mine, alone. I dare not lecture those whose grasp of the mathematical, scientific and theological is so much greater than mine.

I speak in basics and only chide those that incorrectly chide me, personally.

I am not "proud" on my intellectual deficiencies. I only submit that I am Human.

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 06:47 PM (6gk0M)

209
Don't tell me the voters are going to have another temper tantrum this November.

Posted by: Peter Jennings at September 20, 2016 06:47 PM (yfObW)

210 208 Unfortunately wisdom is something usually acquired through life kicking the ever-loving shit out of you a few times.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:40 PM (0mRoj)
=============================================

I agree - that usually seems to be the case.
Posted by: grammie winger's deplorable basket at September 20, 2016 06:44 PM (dFi94)

I'd like to think I have a modicum of wisdom on such things as parenting and relationships at this point in my life. However I had to go through some major hell for that to be the case.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:47 PM (0mRoj)

211 Per Wiki leaks DNC documents Bill Oreilly is a Hillary operative. It lists more on the document but that one stood out.


http://investmentwatchblog.com/wikileaks-bill-oreilly-and-megan-kelly-are-clinton-operatives/

Posted by: Pepe, the Irredeemable at September 20, 2016 06:47 PM (Lrxq8)

212 35 My doctor (state senator -R) reminded me again today that salt is EVIL and no one needs to ever add it to food.

I already use very little salt whatsoever, and don't keep a shaker on our table, unless there are guests.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:14 PM (1ZOkK)

++++

Yeah, about that.

It's Time to End the War on Salt
The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science


This week a meta-analysis of seven studies involving a total of 6,250 subjects in the American Journal of Hypertension found no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death in people with normal or high blood pressure. In May European researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the less sodium that study subjects excreted in their urine-an excellent measure of prior consumption-the greater their risk was of dying from heart disease. These findings call into question the common wisdom that excess salt is bad for you, but the evidence linking salt to heart disease has always been tenuous.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/
its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt/

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at September 20, 2016 06:49 PM (R+30W)

213 Wow. How fucked up do you have to be to have Angela Jolie want to dump your ass?

Hah! Trick question, - she's on like her third divorce or something, isn't she?

Hit the road, honey, you're blocking my view of the newer models.

Posted by: Fritz at September 20, 2016 06:49 PM (wOc4Q)

214 I am not "proud" on my intellectual deficiencies. I only submit that I am Human.

Well ... I'm gonna' call bullshit.

I've followed your postings. You speak plainly - and I don't always agree. But you're a long walk from dumb.

"Intellectual deficiencies" my ass.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:49 PM (fiGNd)

215 Those aristos also used beauty patches (fake moles) to cover their smallpox scars and scabies.

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 06:49 PM (LQLeS)

216 LOL! Just saw a lovely example of IYI being eaten by his own. David Simon, the creator of the Wire, snarked at Trump in a tweet for choosing Hannity to moderate a townhall to address black issues. Simon tweeted that "Trump is bringing his own n**ger to the townhall.

Simon's didn't get that a white guy, even a liberal white guy like himself, is not allowed to use the n-word. Now the SJW's are jumping all over his "racist" tweet.

The groveling apology will be coming soon, I'm sure.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V.deplorably brandishing ampersands&&&&so there at September 20, 2016 06:49 PM (P8951)

217 My opinions are mine, alone. I dare not lecture those whose grasp of the mathematical, scientific and theological is so much greater than mine.

I speak in basics and only chide those that incorrectly chide me, personally.

I am not "proud" on my intellectual deficiencies. I only submit that I am Human.


Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 06:47 PM (6gk0M)


What I find... interesting... is the amount of 'educated' people who use educated sounding language... to perpetuate what is clearly not true.

When you decode their language... its doesn't pass the 'common sense' or even the basic science tests.

Posted by: Don Q. at September 20, 2016 06:50 PM (qf6WZ)

218 Scabies just sounds uncomfortable.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 06:50 PM (rwI+c)

219 Peer review my enormous white ass.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (dEQP3)

No, they are peer reviewed I am sure. But many people misunderstand what peer review really is. It is not an attempt to replicate the authors' findings. It is just supposed to be a check on the authors' work to see if they can find any major flaws in the study. These sorts of things can be manipulated by authors bound and determined to get their work published by any means necessary. For instance, by submitting to journals with friendly editors or very rapid turnaround times, meaning that the time to review any particular paper will be short and hoping the reviewers don't catch the errors/fraud. These can also be manipulated by authors requesting particular friendly reviewers (yes, authors can do that) and lazy/overworked editors just going along with whatever the authors request. And then there is "journal shopping" where the same paper is basically just shopped from journal to journal using the shotgun method hoping that one of them somewhere will publish it.

Posted by: chemjeff at September 20, 2016 06:50 PM (gXKl3)

220 What can you do against the lunatic who is more intelligent than
yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply
persists in his lunacy?


Run them through with a saber, or anything long and knifey.

Posted by: History at September 20, 2016 06:50 PM (s0t8a)

221 >>>The perfect position for IYI Obama is UN Secretary General.


I'm King of the World!

Posted by: Barack Obama at September 20, 2016 06:50 PM (iFgwk)

222 This is a TRULY brilliant article. It's the kind of article that if a Vox.com reader was forced to read would lead to ever-growing, ever-heightening, enraged, sear-throated apoplexy.

Posted by: Walker at September 20, 2016 06:51 PM (ZghE5)

223 Unfortunately wisdom is something usually acquired through life

Wisdom=Knowledge + Experience - Graduate Degrees

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 20, 2016 06:51 PM (SeD0w)

224 Slapweasel, you're a decent guy. Don't tear yourself down like that.

Posted by: chemjeff at September 20, 2016 06:51 PM (gXKl3)

225 @227: "The groveling apology will be coming soon, I'm sure."

Maybe, but I suspect Simon doesn't give a shit about everyone else's feelings, and enough of the "smart and hip" black crowd - including Obama - loves The Wire so much that he won't be forced to apologize.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 06:52 PM (21hN3)

226 "Wow. How fucked up do you have to be to have Angela Jolie want to dump your ass? "


How fucked up do you have to be to leave Jennifer Aniston for that oversexed whore Angelina?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 06:52 PM (J+eG2)

227 >>>Simon's didn't get that a white guy, even a liberal white guy like himself, is not allowed to use the n-word.


ORLY?

Posted by: Quentin Tarantino at September 20, 2016 06:53 PM (iFgwk)

228 we are in a dim room grasping for answers
we were in a cave, watching shadows on the wall
More like a grotto with apes crunching figs

Nope. We are here as on a darkling plain, swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night.

Thought I'd better clear that up for you.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at September 20, 2016 06:53 PM (H5rtT)

229 Satire or is he getting dangerous ly close to being an AGW denier?

Posted by: Jean at September 20, 2016 06:53 PM (ngn8T)

230 And I stand at the opposite end of the spectrum. While my vocabulary may be extensive, I have dealt with "The Streets", intimately.

My opinions are mine, alone. I dare not lecture those whose grasp of the mathematical, scientific and theological is so much greater than mine.

I speak in basics and only chide those that incorrectly chide me, personally.

I am not "proud" on my intellectual deficiencies. I only submit that I am Human.
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 06:47 PM (6gk0M)



Test taking smart is a subset of monkey skills and not a truly useful one.

I'm the super smart highly educated one in the family.

My brother has an AA in tool and die.

Except for one very brief period, my brother has always made more than I have and generally way way more than me. Why? Because he's damn good at fixing things and figuring stuff out and repairing stuff and he always wants to be the first person playing with the new toy at work.

So, yeah, my kind of "smart"? Is only a tiny kind and nor particularly useful.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:53 PM (dEQP3)

231 Then there was a huge study on I forget what that the findings were exactly backwards because a data set got flipped. Peer review my enormous white ass.
Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (dEQP3)


Greetings my Empress.

Posted by: tubal at September 20, 2016 06:53 PM (d6TTt)

232 How fucked up do you have to be to leave Jennifer Aniston for that oversexed whore Angelina?

Behind every woman ... no matter how hot ... is some poor son-of-a-bitch who's just sick to his guts of listening to her bullshit.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:54 PM (fiGNd)

233 You have to have fuking rocks in your head to find any value in a bidet --- yet, all the "fancy" homes and hotel rooms in Europe have them.

Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 06:53 PM (t7NFP)

"IT'S FOR WASHING YOUR BACKSIDE!"

Posted by: Crocodile Dundee at September 20, 2016 06:54 PM (RwwCT)

234 Wonder if she'll get back together with Billy Bob.

Posted by: Yuimetal at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (iFgwk)

235 How fucked up do you have to be to have Angela Jolie
1) Her dad is John Voigt, a conservative. Odd guy, but conservative
2) She looked pretty good in a garter belt and stockings in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
3) Yes, I would, and you would too.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (SeD0w)

236 Apparently Jolie got sick of Brad Pitt sitting around the house smoking pot and being an asshole all day. So what's his nic?

Posted by: Lincolntf at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (2cS/G)

237 "You have to have fuking rocks in your head to find any value in a bidet --- yet, all the "fancy" homes and hotel rooms in Europe have them. "

We had one in our home in Italy.


We kept the extra rolls of toilet paper in it.
That way, you never ran out.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (J+eG2)

238 241
Show me a snobbish European today and I'll show you someone with a bidet in their home.

Who does this?!?!

You have to have fuking rocks in your head to find any value in a bidet --- yet, all the "fancy" homes and hotel rooms in Europe have them.

Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 06:53 PM (t7NFP)

The first time I encountered a bidet, I ended up spraying myself in the face and chest.
I know, right?

Posted by: tubal at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (d6TTt)

239 Mike Rosenberg (whoever he is) on Twitter: "Based on actual odds of getting killed by terrorist refugee, you'd need 10.8 billion skittles to find 3 killers"

Taleb's reply: "This is pure nonsense, statistically."

Posted by: FireHorse at September 20, 2016 06:27 PM (EJsAU)

*Let's see , 7B people in the world = NoTerrorism!*

Posted by: tbodie at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (wjmTS)

240 "Well ... I'm gonna' call bullshit.

I've followed your postings. You speak plainly - and I don't always agree. But you're a long walk from dumb.

"Intellectual deficiencies" my ass.
"
-Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:49 PM (fiGNd)

There is the "seen" and the "unseen". What you do not see are the topics I don't post anything about, nor the opinions I choose not to reveal.

Thank you, sir, for your uplifting opinion of my dialog.

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (6gk0M)

241 happened across the article this weekend. nice catch posting it.

author is a bit of a pedant, but then I am too for using the word pedant.

Posted by: deplorable oddknot still frets at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (g1MTt)

242 >>>How fucked up do you have to be to leave Jennifer Aniston for that oversexed whore Angelina?
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice<<<

Well, there's that too, but if Jennifer wasn't oversexed, it's her own fault.

Posted by: Fritz at September 20, 2016 06:55 PM (wOc4Q)

243 This just in:

Hillary postpones Chapel Hill stop today. No other info given.

Posted by: Azathoth at September 20, 2016 06:56 PM (XN0hD)

244 I only submit that I am Human.
Posted by: Slapweasel
----------------
Objection, your honor!
Assumes facts not in evidence.

Posted by: Chi at September 20, 2016 06:56 PM (WcF0b)

245 So, yeah, my kind of "smart"? Is only a tiny kind and nor particularly useful.

Alex ... if shit hits the fan, you are EXACTLY the type of personality that groups can galvanize around. You could build consensus while cutting through obvious bullshit.

That's really damn useful.

Now I'm going to shut up for a bit. Because when I'm the son-of-a-bitch handing out all the positive affirmation, something has went terribly wrong.

And I need another beer.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (fiGNd)

246 257
Since I'm kinda of Italian heritage, I grew up knowing lots of ginzos. The ones who had money had the gaudiest houses. These people had bidets in their bathrooms.

Thank Christ my parents weren't ginzos.
Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 06:56 PM (t7NFP)

What's a ginzo?

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (0mRoj)

247 "Behind every woman ... no matter how hot ... is some poor son-of-a-bitch who's just sick to his guts of listening to her bullshit."

And in the end, that may be the case.

But Jolie always struck me as an oversexed, high maintenance individual with "needs".

And no....no I wouldn't.

Not even if I were single.
And drunk.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (J+eG2)

248

On the internet, no one knows you are an alien.

Posted by: Philo Gomez at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (CeGsO)

249 "Objection, your honor!
Assumes facts not in evidence.
"
-Posted by: Chi at September 20, 2016 06:56 PM (WcF0b)

...woof.

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (6gk0M)

250 I'm a bigger retard than all you Morons!

Posted by: Weasel at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (Sfs6o)

251 Posted by: chemjeff at September 20, 2016 06:50 PM (gXKl3)


Did you actually click the link to the article I posted and/or note my second example of flipping a data set?

Yes, I do expect peer review to catch subtle matters such as that your attached Excel spreadsheet changed genome names to dates and other data to floating point numbers and that your data set flipped axisesesess (axes?) thus making your conclusions completely opposite of the data.

If peer review can't pick up minor things such as that, then there is no point to it.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:58 PM (dEQP3)

252 21 Boulder

Thanks for the link to Razib Khan. That site is now bookmarked.

Posted by: French Jeton at September 20, 2016 06:59 PM (WMvHw)

253 ..."And I need another beer."
-Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (fiGNd)

*HAH!*

*cheers!*

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 06:59 PM (6gk0M)

254 One man's ginzo is just another man's goombah.

Posted by: Snap it, pal at September 20, 2016 06:59 PM (s0t8a)

255 The first time I encountered a bidet, I ended up spraying myself in the face and chest.
I know, right?

It's been a while since I've been to Europe but I'd probably do the same thing. I like you! :^)

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 06:59 PM (EnGQE)

256 You need at least two waterclosets. One bidet and one binight.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:00 PM (0mRoj)

257 Hillary postpones Chapel Hill stop today. No other info given.
Posted by: Azathoth at September 20, 2016 06:56 PM (XN0hD)

Was that a fundraiser or a talk to her subjects?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (EnGQE)

258 alexthechick - @267


I didn't understand any of that beyond 'click the link', and Yes You weren't talking to me.

I just found it amusing.

Posted by: Philo Gomez at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (CeGsO)

259 "What's a ginzo? "

A form of weasel.



Or a really sharp Japanese knife.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (J+eG2)

260 272
What's a ginzo?

A nice way for Italian to call other Italians guineas.



Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 07:00 PM (t7NFP)

Ah so.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (0mRoj)

261 273 You need at least two waterclosets. One bidet and one binight.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:00 PM (0mRoj)


One Bidet, and two BiSea?

Posted by: Don Q. at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (qf6WZ)

262
This just in:
Hillary postpones Chapel Hill stop today. No other info given.


Eyes stuck at one o'clock and six o'clock.

Posted by: YIKES! at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (yfObW)

263 276 "What's a ginzo? "

A form of weasel.



Or a really sharp Japanese knife.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (J+eG2)

Cuts through a tin can then slices a tomato.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (0mRoj)

264 >>If peer review can't pick up minor things such as that, then there is no point to it.

One of the most repeated claims of AGW proponents is that the "science" has been peer reviewed and approved. Yet those that do the reviewing are almost never given access to the data or some of the methodology behind the conclusions.

There is no point to much of it.

Posted by: JackStraw at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (/tuJf)

265 Bad judgement comes from lack of experience. Good judgement comes from bad experiences.

Posted by: Ben Had at September 20, 2016 07:02 PM (FrlvA)

266 Was that a fundraiser or a talk to her subjects?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (EnGQE)


Is there a difference?

Posted by: Don Q. at September 20, 2016 07:02 PM (qf6WZ)

267 "Cuts through a tin can then slices a tomato."

So it's a form of Honey Badger then.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:02 PM (J+eG2)

268 Peer review is just like anything else. Differing levels of quality and professionalism across publications.

Be suspicious of anyone who says "peer reviewed" in the top line summary of their work.

It should go without saying if you're serious about your scientific work. If you have to constantly remind folks of that fact, then maybe you shouldn't be taken seriously.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 07:03 PM (21hN3)

269 Here's my proposal, random selection of Representatives. That should give the most representative sample of the citizenry as a whole. And, I think in theory eliminate classical political parties.

Posted by: Make America Great Again at September 20, 2016 07:03 PM (BS8yt)

270 *cheers!*

Back at ya'.

You know who else spoke plainly ? Mark Twain.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 07:03 PM (fiGNd)

271
Was that a fundraiser or a talk to her subjects?

***

Judging by attendance photos lately, I think the technical term is "Hey, c'mere a minute, guys.."

Posted by: Azathoth at September 20, 2016 07:03 PM (XN0hD)

272 Okay. I'm off to go Space Magic things, by which I mean I will find a way to fall off the cliff you aren't supposed to be able to fall off.

Don't do anything I wouldn't do.

Remember, the primary thing I wouldn't do is get caught.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 07:04 PM (dEQP3)

273 Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:01 PM (J+eG2)
-------------
Hey!

Posted by: Weasel at September 20, 2016 07:04 PM (Sfs6o)

274 "Bad judgement comes from lack of experience. Good judgement comes from bad experiences."

The entire basis for the difference between "She's good looking" and "Never put your d*ck in crazy".

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:04 PM (J+eG2)

275 241
Show me a snobbish European today and I'll show you someone with a bidet in their home.

Who does this?!?!

You have to have fuking rocks in your head to find any value in a bidet --- yet, all the "fancy" homes and hotel rooms in Europe have them.

Posted by: Mister Magoo'

----------------------

There were times when I wish I had one, like when my hemorhoids are acting up. Or shortly after giving birth and the episiotomy stitches were itching. Or after a particularly passionate night.

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 07:04 PM (LQLeS)

276 Peer review = you scratch my back I scratch yours.

Posted by: Deplorable @votermom at September 20, 2016 07:04 PM (Om16U)

277 Posted by: Don Q. at September 20, 2016 07:02 PM (qf6WZ)

Yes; At one, your furniture gets charged $50,000. i.e. "chair with Hillary". ;^), At the other oneclueless millennials get in for free.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 07:05 PM (EnGQE)

278 289
First of all, who, over the age of 35, has the athletic ability to hover over a bidet, anyway??

I mean, the aim has to be perfect, no?


The Japanese (of course) have made a bidet with a retractable angles arm to direct the water into the right location. It also has temperature control and a seat warmer.

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:05 PM (0mRoj)

279 How fucked up do you have to be to leave Jennifer Aniston for that oversexed whore Angelina?

Your question answers itself.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:05 PM (sdi6R)

280 "Or after a particularly passionate night."


Well.....alrighty then.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:06 PM (J+eG2)

281 @294
Havery you ever heard the phrase TMI?
Yeah, Google it.

Posted by: Chi at September 20, 2016 07:06 PM (WcF0b)

282 Remember, the primary thing I wouldn't do is get caught.

Be careful ... I'm kind of counting on being one of your consiglieres. I can hold this cul-de-sac together - but I ain't warlord material.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 07:06 PM (fiGNd)

283 >>> Hillary postpones Chapel Hill stop today. No other info given.


She's resting. After she yet again called us pigs, we tossed her in the van and gave her the 'Freddy Gray' special.

Posted by: The Secret Service at September 20, 2016 07:07 PM (fgOnp)

284 Japanese toilets should be listed alongside the Manhattan Project and Apollo program as mankind's greatest technology achievements.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 07:07 PM (21hN3)

285 "The Japanese (of course) have made a bidet with a retractable angles arm to direct the water into the right location. It also has temperature control and a seat warmer."

You would think after seven years in Italy, and two years in Japan I would embrace the idea of Bidets.


No.



Put the spare toilet paper rolls there.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:07 PM (J+eG2)

286 293 "Bad judgement comes from lack of experience. Good judgement comes from bad experiences."

The entire basis for the difference between "She's good looking" and "Never put your d*ck in crazy".
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:04 PM (J+eG2)

Speaking of ancestral wisdom...

Posted by: Insomniac - Irredeemably Deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:07 PM (0mRoj)

287 What good is a bidet unless you have an attending servant to perform the scrub and dry? Damn one percenters.

Posted by: Fritz at September 20, 2016 07:07 PM (wOc4Q)

288 I stayed in a hotel in Hawaii that had a built in bidet seat on the toilet with a control mounted on the wall next to it and you could select the temperature and position of the water (I always chose warm) as well as then having a breeze of warm air afterwards to dry you. It was fantastic. (Saved on toilet paper, too.)

You can order those kinds of toilet seats from amazon. (They ain't cheap, a few hundred dollars.)

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 07:07 PM (LQLeS)

289
Or a really sharp Japanese knife.
Cuts through a tin can then slices a tomato.


For your bacon, tin and tomato sandwich.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at September 20, 2016 07:08 PM (IqV8l)

290 Here's a good site for "peer reviewed" debunking...

http://retractionwatch.com/

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 07:09 PM (6gk0M)

291 the 3 people asking if the kids are selling ice tea is they are sure they are.
--Skip

I'm old, and I do watch TV, just not the right shows.
Must have seen that ad 20 times before I got it.
The guy sitting there with the kids? His name is Ice-T. He's famous.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at September 20, 2016 07:09 PM (H5rtT)

292 "Bad judgement comes from lack of experience. Good judgement comes from bad experiences."

------------

"The Mechanic" 2011 with Jason Statham with dialogue copied verbatium from "The Mechanic" 1972 with Charles Bronson.

Probably copied from someone even earlier.

Posted by: Almost Infamous at September 20, 2016 07:09 PM (CeGsO)

293 306
I mean, if it's really really necessary for you to shoot high water pressure directly at your rectum....

Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 07:07 PM (t7NFP)



Ron White

https://youtu.be/FmltPi531Z4

Posted by: buzzion at September 20, 2016 07:09 PM (z/Ubi)

294 For your bacon, tin and tomato sandwich.

Here's hoping I can run faster scared than the dude that eats that sandwich runs pissed.

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 07:09 PM (fiGNd)

295 All I know is that one candidate is fulfilling his duties doing the campaign circuit and one candidate is not. They can write and say whatever they want to. This is a fact.

Posted by: washrivergal madly and deeply deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:09 PM (CFc5L)

296 ... Ummmm.....you told me you wanted to see me in a month, and I want you to do something about my damned meds that are making me miserable.

Posted by: Jane D'oh, Proud Deplorable at September 20, 2016 06:10 PM (1ZOkK)


Well?

Posted by: gNewt....in the basket...forever censored at September 20, 2016 07:09 PM (B1ik8)

297 Bidets make awesome boot washers.

Posted by: fixerupper at September 20, 2016 07:10 PM (JmjOe)

298 We have embraced the flushable wipes. Currently using a green tea/cucumber scented variety.
Very refreshing.
The best was when our girls were tiny, we had a wipe warmer. Ahhhhhhhhh...




There, are we done w/this topic?

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 20, 2016 07:10 PM (SeD0w)

299 303

But since the advent of the removable and flexible shower-head hose, bidets are obsolete.

Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 07:06 PM (t7NFP)


I was about to say that bidets probably date from a time when people didn't take frequent baths or showers, and was an easy way to clean the bits that tended to get dirty and smelly.

Posted by: rickl the deplorable at September 20, 2016 07:10 PM (sdi6R)

300 If you tried crazy once , you will Never go back again.

Posted by: Ben Had at September 20, 2016 07:10 PM (FrlvA)

301 "And I need another beer."
-Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 06:57 PM (fiGNd)

*HAH!*

*cheers!*
Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 06:59 PM (6gk0M)

Wait! I want in on this one:
Slapweasel, this Buds for you! *clinks tablet screen*

Posted by: tbodie at September 20, 2016 07:10 PM (wjmTS)

302 "Your question answers itself."

I don't know if I'm getting wiser, or just older.

But I place a whole lot of emphasis on what many would call the non physical intangibles.


And poofed lips, and a history of sexual indiscretions don't go high up on my list of things to look for in a woman.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:11 PM (J+eG2)

303
Toilet bidet.


Wet pulsating sex toy by night

Posted by: fixerupper at September 20, 2016 07:11 PM (JmjOe)

304

"The Japanese have made . . ."


Well look, all those highly trained engineers have to find something to do.

Posted by: Almost Infamous at September 20, 2016 07:11 PM (CeGsO)

305 That's a heavy hit. He's going to attract a lot of vehemence.

Posted by: t-bird at September 20, 2016 07:12 PM (ANVXm)

306 But I place a whole lot of emphasis on what many would call the non physical intangibles.

Some of the best advice I ignored ...

... "Look at her mother".

Posted by: ScoggDog at September 20, 2016 07:12 PM (fiGNd)

307 "Wait! I want in on this one:
Slapweasel, this Buds for you! *clinks tablet screen*
"
-Posted by: tbodie at September 20, 2016 07:10 PM (wjmTS)

Love you, Brother!

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Deplorable1), (T) at September 20, 2016 07:12 PM (6gk0M)

308

No fricking way does a wet wipe that touches MY backside is EVER going to smell like a cucumber.

Posted by: fixerupper at September 20, 2016 07:13 PM (JmjOe)

309 Wet pulsating sex toy by night

Huh, maybe this explains the falling birthrate and rise of virginity in Japan.

Posted by: no good deed at September 20, 2016 07:13 PM (/O5Ax)

310 Dammit! Now my tablet is soaked with beer.

Posted by: tbodie at September 20, 2016 07:14 PM (wjmTS)

311 "No fricking way does a wet wipe that touches MY backside is EVER going to smell like a cucumber."

I think it's a "Before" thing.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:14 PM (J+eG2)

312 Speaking of ginzos, saw a really good movie last night: House of Flying Daggers.

Posted by: wth at September 20, 2016 07:14 PM (HgMAr)

313 All I know about Angelina is that she has big lips, tattoos, and adopts foreign kiddies. And that she's the daughter of Jon Voigt.

Also, Louis Prima sang a song about her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqA4IviTEwQ

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 07:15 PM (LQLeS)

314 Mid-morning threads need more Japanese tentacle porn.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 07:15 PM (21hN3)

315 Chapel Hill was a fundraiser with some big donors coming.

Hillary's pneumonia must have overheated. Missing a fundraiser? She must be rigid again.

Posted by: Meremortal... at September 20, 2016 07:16 PM (3myMJ)

316 There were times when I wish I had one, like when my hemorhoids are acting up. Or shortly after giving birth and the episiotomy stitches were itching. Or after a particularly passionate night.
Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 07:04 PM (LQLeS)

Go on.....

Posted by: Pepe, the Irredeemable at September 20, 2016 07:16 PM (Lrxq8)

317 Hillary postpones Chapel Hill stop today. No other info given.

Can't stop! Too busy powering thru!

Posted by: Hillary! at September 20, 2016 07:16 PM (ANVXm)

318 Peer review my enormous white ass.

Posted by: alexthechick - Yeah, count me out. at September 20, 2016 06:41 PM (dEQP3)


Gonna need pics.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at September 20, 2016 07:17 PM (uz/Pv)

319 Huh, maybe this explains the falling birthrate and rise of virginity in Japan.
Posted by: no good deed at September 20, 2016 07:13 PM (/O5Ax)
..............

Or they don't count sex with their robots.

Posted by: wth at September 20, 2016 07:17 PM (HgMAr)

320 Gonna go with fixerupper on this anal wipe thing. Most definitely would be looking for "original" or "classic" scent here.

Posted by: Weasel at September 20, 2016 07:17 PM (Sfs6o)

321 Never throw flushable wipes down the toilet. They do not dissolve.

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 07:17 PM (LQLeS)

322 Chapel Hill article.

Comments are not kind to her
http://tinyurl.com/zwsseqp

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:18 PM (J+eG2)

323 Maybe if there was an app, with a camera aiming device, like a norden bombsight

Posted by: x at September 20, 2016 07:18 PM (nFwvY)

324 343 Gonna go with fixerupper on this anal wipe thing. Most definitely would be looking for "original" or "classic" scent here.
Posted by: Weasel at September 20, 2016 07:17 PM (Sfs6o)

New car smell for me.

Posted by: Pepe, the Irredeemable at September 20, 2016 07:18 PM (Lrxq8)

325 Is it bidet or biday?

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 07:18 PM (LQLeS)

326 Just imagining the head Ewok getting his anal glands expressed.
And then a fresh wipe down with a cucumber scented towelette.




Yeh....put brain bleach on the shopping list.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:19 PM (J+eG2)

327 Thanks Slapweasel. Always enjoy your insight.

Posted by: tbodie at September 20, 2016 07:19 PM (wjmTS)

328 Posted by: Pepe, the Irredeemable at September 20, 2016 07:18 PM (Lrxq
------------
Pine scent? Like the little cardboard air freshener trees? That would work in an anal wipe.

Posted by: Weasel at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (Sfs6o)

329 I'd like to be a fly on the wall at a bar at 1 AM where ace and Taleb are ranting and raving about everything under the sun.

Posted by: Yuimetal at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (iLoHX)

330 Chapel Hill article.

Comments are not kind to her
http://tinyurl.com/zwsseqp


--------------------

Google's new computer with Artificial Intelligence will clean that right up. It's done by computer, you see. Impartial, non partisan computers. Nothing political about it.

Posted by: Almost Infamous at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (CeGsO)

331 Or, the shorter version is what my grandfather use to say:

"They don't know that they don't know. That's what makes them idiots"

Posted by: TheOtherDon at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (4BlPY)

332 A male sex robot will never be subjected to a paternity suit.

Posted by: Ben Had at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (FrlvA)

333 "Maybe if there was an app, with a camera aiming device, like a noreen bombsight"

CaddyShack
Rodney Dangerfield
The Golf Club spotting scope

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (J+eG2)

334 Is it bidet or biday?
Bidet.
You can tell when it's Biday because the Google landing page has rainbows all over it.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (SeD0w)

335 Chapel Hill wasn't even a public event.

It was a fundraiser at someone's house.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 07:20 PM (21hN3)

336 How'd we get on the subject of asswipes?

Posted by: Speaking of brock.. at September 20, 2016 07:21 PM (LQLeS)

337 Clinton was supposed to hold a "Conversation with Hillary" event at the home of Better Craven

Wait! This is an actual name of someone who supports Hillary. It's not a typo?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke, redeemed and redeemable at September 20, 2016 07:21 PM (EnGQE)

338
Just asked Mrs Fixer if she would use cuke scented wipes on her lady bits.

"That would be weird".

So, this householde is a unanimous "unscented" vote.

Posted by: fixerupper at September 20, 2016 07:22 PM (JmjOe)

339 Nood

Posted by: Skip at September 20, 2016 07:22 PM (O18ol)

340 How'd we get on the subject of asswipes?

--

Random chance. Ten thousand monkeys pounding on keyboards all over the US.

Posted by: Almost Infamous at September 20, 2016 07:22 PM (CeGsO)

341 How'd we get on the subject of asswipes?
Posted by: Speaking of brock.. at September 20, 2016 07:21 PM (LQLeS)

I'd hazzard a guess but I do not want to get accused of attacking a fellow blogger

Posted by: Nevergiveup at September 20, 2016 07:23 PM (zp+j1)

342 New car smell for me.

New Car Cherry baby!
It's worse than mercaptans.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 20, 2016 07:23 PM (SeD0w)

343 All I know about Angelina is that she has big lips, tattoos, and adopts foreign kiddies. And that she's the daughter of Jon Voigt.
..............

Didn't she also get her boobs replaced with inflatables because of breast cancer gene?

Posted by: wth at September 20, 2016 07:23 PM (HgMAr)

344 *A male sex robot will never be subjected to a paternity suit.*

They're still part of the oppresive patriarchy!

4th wave feminsts of the future...

Posted by: tbodie at September 20, 2016 07:23 PM (wjmTS)

345 "How'd we get on the subject of as swipes?"

Someone mentioned Hillary, and it sort of rolled from there.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:23 PM (J+eG2)

346 Racist monkey metaphor needs cleanup in aisle four.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at September 20, 2016 07:23 PM (21hN3)

347 362
Just asked Mrs Fixer if she would use cuke scented wipes on her lady bits.

"That would be weird".

_____________

But would she use a cuke on her lady bits?

Posted by: Semi-engaged scroller at September 20, 2016 07:24 PM (LQLeS)

348 Le NOOD

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:25 PM (J+eG2)

349 yeah the GMO thing's a deal-breaker

i just ain't got no time fo you

Posted by: happyfeet at September 20, 2016 07:25 PM (mLfQi)

350 Or what the Canadians call: hose the hoser, eh?

Posted by: Simplemind at September 20, 2016 07:29 PM (1/dEZ)

351 How fucked up do you have to be to leave Jennifer Aniston for that oversexed whore Angelina?


A higher probability of threesomes with Angelina and one of her hot friends? Saves money. You don't have to spend it on hookers.

Posted by: Puddleglum at September 20, 2016 07:33 PM (20X6f)

352 We have embraced the flushable wipes. Currently using a green tea/cucumber scented variety.

Very refreshing.

The best was when our girls were tiny, we had a wipe warmer. Ahhhhhhhhh...



There, are we done w/this topic?

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at September 20, 2016 07:10 PM (SeD0w)

Late to the thread, I know, but please, for the love of God, don't use 'flushable wipes'. They're not flushable. I work in a wastewater treatment plant and you wouldn't believe how badly those things gum up the machinery. It's beyond disgusting, like a sausage made of shit and wipes coming out of the pipes. And that's before they get into the pumps.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Posted by: right wing whippersnapper at September 20, 2016 07:34 PM (26lkV)

353 I was reading Allen Drury's "A Senate Journal", his diary written while covering the Senate for the United Press in 1943-1945. The most commonly used adjective used to describe the top senators (Taft, Wagner, Murray, Russell) is "shrewd."

IYI's will always be smart but never shrewd. Maybe that's why their brilliant ideas turn out so catastrophically.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at September 20, 2016 07:35 PM (J8/9G)

354 It's just funny that a lot of people with some money think having a whore's ass-bath in their home is somehow "classy."

Posted by: Mister Magoo's at September 20, 2016 06:58 PM (t7NFP)




This made me laugh hysterically.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at September 20, 2016 07:35 PM (rwI+c)

355 What's that? Well of COURSE she didn't show. Of. Course.
== ==== ============

Never reschedule doctor dentist or haircut appointments for anyone less than a judge. The job will eat you up. Make rules and stick to them. Otherwise your soft heart will put you in a bad place.

Posted by: Simplemind at September 20, 2016 07:35 PM (1/dEZ)

356 Posted by: right wing whippersnapper at September 20, 2016 07:34 PM (26lkV)
-------------
OK to toss 'em in the creek?

Posted by: Weasel at September 20, 2016 07:39 PM (Sfs6o)

357 As stupid as they are, the IYI have no reluctance to mass murder when they have adequate power. The rationales for it are invariably self-evident to them if to no one else, but then others are literally beside the point. May we never forget that as we chuckle and cluck at their idiocy. They'd kill us all.

Posted by: Doomed at September 20, 2016 07:45 PM (p6SpN)

358 at least, to encountering jesuits before. I don't know if the reference was intended to be complimentary or derogatory.
========================================

Most likely both. A not uncommon reaction of alums.

Posted by: Simplemind at September 20, 2016 07:45 PM (1/dEZ)

359 a history of sexual indiscretions don't go high up on my list of things to look for in a woman.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 20, 2016 07:11 PM (J+eG2)


Then you want to avoid Jennifer Anniston, too.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at September 20, 2016 07:55 PM (GcpvU)

360 >>>354 It's just funny that a lot of people with some money think having a whore's ass-bath in their home is somehow "classy."

one time i went to get a massage and wound up on a whore's ass-bath

Posted by: ace at September 20, 2016 08:57 PM (dciA+)

361 >>>I didn't read the book Black Swan, but am a bit familiar with it from the context of the financial crisis.

that's the derivation of the title but not what the book is about.

The book is about so-called "Black Swan events" like 9/11. Impossible events -- things that could never be predicted.

However, they were never impossible, and they could be predicted.

Suppose we define an "impossible event" as an event that has a one in a million chance of happening.

How many events do you witness -- first hand or second hand, through the media, through the news -- per month?

Ten thousand or so, Taleb might say. (I don't know the exact number).

So in any year, you'll see more than one hundred thousand events.

What are the odds then that every year you will see an "impossible" event?

Better than ten percent!!!

The "impossible" has a one in ten chance of happening EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

He's talking about our poor grasp of low-probability. A low probability event still has a chance of happening -- and the more trials (the more events that are noted), the more that the "impossible" is guaranteed to occur, with some degree of frequency.

Basically, his thesis is that we discount low-probability events as being ZERO probability events, and we just then assume "That can never happen."

Wrong. One in a million events happen every several months.

Posted by: ace at September 20, 2016 09:05 PM (dciA+)

362 Human beings simply cannot grasp the mathematics of very low probability things when there are lots and lots of trials. The odds of a very low probabililty event occurring given a large number of trials: Pretty high (if we don't specify WHICH of the many low probability events we're talking about, but that just one or two of them will come to pass).

Posted by: ace at September 20, 2016 09:09 PM (dciA+)

363 A brilliant essay, well worth reading, but the author, whilst I concede that he may be intellectually my superior, does seem to have a couple of wobbly wheels, IYKWIM.

Posted by: West at September 20, 2016 09:14 PM (lVfzb)

364 Taleb's trilogy: Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, and Anti-Fragile changed the way I think.

They changed my life.

Which was pretty fucking awesome to start with.

I went from a "everything is black and white" scientist to a "nothing is black and white" critical thinker.

Posted by: @PeeteySDee at September 20, 2016 09:15 PM (P+pX0)

365 Disgusting. I've lost all interests in persuing what seemingly was an excellent article Thanks Ace.

Posted by: jacke at September 20, 2016 09:43 PM (SNvcv)

366 I Y I

I think that aptly describes the past eight year's policy makers.

Sadly

Very sadly

Posted by: CitizenX at September 20, 2016 10:29 PM (u/Kiz)

367 The world is a complex place - people will try to sell you a line that it's simple, but it isn't.

All my life, people have told me I was a genius. I always tested in the 99th percentile when we did standardized tests in school. But I don't feel like a genius. I feel like there's a million things I don't know and a million things I can't do. I'm the guy who, without my GAINZ, would be pretty useless in a zombie apocalypse - I'm strong now, so I can smack some heads off with a baseball bat.

I think that I'm not an IYI because I realize my own limitations - the central trait of the IYI class seems to be their hubris.

Posted by: broseidon king of the brocean at September 20, 2016 10:42 PM (kumBu)

368 I took the GMATs ostensibly simply to get an MBA, but I do really well on standardized testing and got into a doctoral program (which really changed my life). But I was also contacted by the Kennedy School of Government to apply to its Ph.D. program. I honestly couldn't imagine what one would do with such a degree. I've read The Black Swan (I also taught statistics for five years at an engineering school) and found it to be quite useful, but find that most people who refer to it haven't read and wouldn't understand it if they did.
Talib does not suffer fools lightly, and those who wish to rule us are fools. They need to be mocked and ridiculed generally and specifically by name.

Posted by: Ian Deal at September 20, 2016 11:02 PM (teGBX)

369 Taleb's trilogy: Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, and Anti-Fragile changed the way I think.

They changed my life.

Which was pretty fucking awesome to start with.

I went from a "everything is black and white" scientist to a "nothing is black and white" critical thinker.

Posted by: @PeeteySDee at September 20, 2016 09:15 PM (P+pX0)

============================

Thanks for that comment, which interests me as I am an "everything is black and white" (computer) scientist.

In looking up those books on Amazon, I was confused as to why each title ended with the word (Incerto) in parentheses.

Further research indicated that is a name for "Taleb's landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don't understand. The books in the series are Fooled By Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed Of Procrustes, and Antifragile."

Posted by: ShainS at September 20, 2016 11:32 PM (a6Ff7)

370 There is a clique of intellectual types who hang out at a small dog park that I frequent on the weekends. I have a weird dog, but she is a "rescue" dog, so the clique lets me hang around on the fringes. The clique foreman is a sharp attorney who made a fortune suing a Russian immigrant contractor who was ripping off his Bosnian immigrant employees and American tax-payers. Now the lawyer is a bit scared that the Russian mafia might come after her.

In any case, the attorney lady is a rabid Hillary supporter and us just as rabid a Trump hater. She also is slavishly devoted to Obama. So, last Saturday I mentioned that Barack and Michelle had both insulted waiters by claiming to have been mistaken for one. "What's wrong with being a waiter?" I asked. They did not get it. "How would you like to be mistaken for a homeless person?" one of the dog owners asked me. "Wouldn't bother me a bit, I replied, If someone tried to hand me change, I would take it." Truly, they think it is horrible to be a waiter, just beneath them. I said that a waiter works harder than a president and the attorney snapped at me, "No, a president works much harder, he's on 24 hours a day!" "Not on his feet", I replied. Really, none of these people have ever held real jobs. They want to get paid for thinking.

Posted by: Michelle at September 21, 2016 12:21 AM (b5nJy)

371 "Really, none of these people have ever held real jobs. They want to get paid for thinking."

Except they're not very good at it.

Posted by: JP in KC at September 21, 2016 12:44 AM (Ly2hu)

372 Feynman was better on this topic:

http://www.lhup.edu/~DSIMANEK/cargocul.htm

Posted by: reform highlander at September 21, 2016 01:36 AM (xf3KI)

373 I think Black Swan guy is reading Ace and learning.

Posted by: freedom2014despitebarack at September 21, 2016 07:57 AM (OkKDg)

374 IYI reminds me of a speech I gave my staff of PhD's once. "There are 2 types of people in the world; Intellectoids and Truck Drivers. Truck Drivers deliver the freight and get things done while Intellectoids sit on their butts and pontificate. On this team we only want Truck Drivers."

Intellectoid is a derivative of Intellectual + Hemorrhoid. In other words highly credentialed people who lack common sense and are a pain in the ass. I prefer Intellectoid to IYI but they represent the same thing

Posted by: Texan by Choice at September 21, 2016 10:43 AM (6rsEL)

375 What he says, here:

'Beware the semi-erudite who thinks he is an erudite. He fails to naturally detect sophistry.'

..and related content, is true of both major political parties and ideologies, and esp true of sociopaths/psychopaths within those two camps. Basically, such individuals and groups are found within any organization or group with an hierarchy.

"Snakes in suits. When psychopaths go to work"
"Masters of manipulation. Psychopaths rule the world'
"Geeks, MOPS and Sociopaths"
"Temporal lobe abnormalities in semantic processing by criminal psychopaths as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging."
"From democracy to pathocracy. The rise of the political psychopath"
"Psychopaths rule our world - medicine, politics and war."
"The startling accuracy of referring to politicians as psychopaths."
"Psychopaths, politicians and basketball players"

Posted by: The Hot Gates at September 21, 2016 11:56 AM (k3uSs)

376 I've read all of Taleb's books. #361 is on the money. The best example he gives is Fukashima. The reactor was designed (by some very smart people) to withstand any tsunami ever recorded. The only problem is that's actually a very small data set in the grand scheme of things.

Posted by: Adam at September 21, 2016 11:59 AM (Ll70k)

377 Manbearpig is a south park episode where gore goes around trying to get everyone to be afraid of a monster called manbearpig.

Posted by: Shiggz at September 21, 2016 05:05 PM (G7wcY)

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