#BLOCKCON

Fireside Chat: Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Naval Ravikant
www.goBLOCKCON.com
Join the conversation: www.t.me/BLOCKCON

[@JanneWolterbeek]

Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Naval Ravikant together on stage! I am well prepared to lose an hour of sleep to watch this.

[@SimplyAndy]

Haha likewise

[@steamerSama]

Wow, I already did, when I should have been working overnight.

[@EntwinedGraces]

Naval is lavender in human form

[@emrico]

Entwined Graces brilliant

[@Bitcoin-gj8vn]

He makes a good point here, regarding Equality of Outcome vs Equality of Opportunity kzbin.info/www/bejne/epKTkoucqM2frq8

[@thomaslisankie342]

This is the truest thing I’ve ever read.

[@Ashwekar]

creates a calming influence?

[@swatisquantum]

😂

[@sandwichtaster]

Taleb is not a great public speaker but legitimately one of the most important luminaries of our time. Naval wasn't kidding when he said Nassim's books will still be read in a thousand years.

[@chumbucket66]

I don't get why people keep repeating that Taleb is not a great speaker. He speaks clearly and naturally, he breaks down deep understanding in an accessible way, he's extremely quick on his feet. That puts him miles above the average speaker. Do you expect fireworks to go off or something?

[@swatisquantum]

Taleb is sharing wisdom in front of an audience lol. The proof is in the pudding.

[@johnanderson2654]

Food Eater...Would you speak great in French?

[@raymeester7883]

@@chumbucket66 He's not a great speaker. He has some faults in speech delivery and oration but that is really insignificant compared to the vast wisdom and information he gives.

[@agr99999]

@@chumbucket66 Exactly. He's not so bad people! Listen to what he is saying... he's deep.

[@yumorules]

His comments on Paul Krugman being useless at predicting anything were spot on.

[@amosnkonyeni4923]

I had this assertion from first year in university in 2009 but no one believed me and said I was just an idiot.

[@hieroglyph321]

@@amosnkonyeni4923 If you assert it completely, then you are an idiot. Not many things are completely true or completely false.

[@ni5hu]

33:26: Don't join any NGO _some people start clapping_ 33:28: Start a business and fail _silence in the room, Taleb smiling._

[@TheSpecialJ11]

I would agree with Taleb here 100% if the business world wasn't so uncompetitive in places. Large corporations have lobbied for government policy and actions that kill competition. Only revolutionary startups have a real shot anymore because they literally change the fundamentals of an industry or create a new one. No ma and pa grocery store has a shot in most cities anymore, even if their business practices would survive the next recession and Walmart's won't. In theory Walmart should fail and free up market space for the ma and pa store, but it's "too big to fail". I say too big to exist. Small and medium enterprises are the bread and butter of an antifragile market. But I wouldn't dare start one in an established industry when I'm guaranteed failure regardless of what I do because of the market structure. The whole point is to start a business and get culled for merit reasons, and to keep doing this until you have a successful one. This improves the "genetic code" of the economy. But successful businesses are stamped out by the big market players. I honestly believe this is the real success of postwar West Germany. Their economy remains competitive because of government policy designed to keep it competitive. Small and medium enterprises are 3/5 of their employment for a reason.

[@Hypnusrecords]

Best comment, haha.

[@sl7sos]

It was stupid to say

[@5Gazto]

They are egocentric cynics.

[@MrDeshaunWilkins]

It seems the organisers told Nassim this is gonna be a book lecture and suddenly Naval was sitting next to him :)

[@kevinjoseph517]

IM a few minutes in and this is a bore. 'games in latin' blabla

[@oantimido]

Pretty much. NNT was palpably uncomfortable at the start. They are not best friends or anything but in good terms.

[@imzan3650]

Before watching, This has to be one of the best combinations of people in a stage.

[@abhinavsharma-xb5bq]

how disappointed were you

[@TheRealScurred]

"The more uncertainty there is, the more we know how to act."

[@eliwhittle1202]

Taleb lives what he says. He is the ultimate practitioner & intellectual. His ideas are truly profound.

[@Mert-pd2ht]

Comment of the year

[@josiahk]

Practitioner is an amazing way to describe nassim

[@beingamo4]

Fat Tony in prime form

[@amosnkonyeni4923]

I cannot get enough of this hey! Two philosophers in one room!

[@claudiaarganaraz1708]

Great to hear these two men discussing the Incerto's ideas. Thanks Nassim, you have already explained the main idea of Skin in th Game. I just bought the book, and I've read about 60 pages, and now, after hearing you, I feel like I already read the whole book!!

[@mirzacandrei5143]

It's great to see these guys on the same stage, but I did expect more interaction and deep talk between them. You can actually notice that Taleb didn't even try to engage in conversation with Naval which deserved much more respect. I still worth to read his book 'Skin In The Game' but don't expect a lot from this talk.

[@bernardlunn6842]

two of my favorite thinkers on one panel!

[@perfexcellence]

Brilliantly refreshing!

[@kolloh]

Always a pleasure listen to this great minds

[@RJ3220]

My hero. He crystallizes everything I've seen and been thinking for years. I totally agree with his view that academics have no skin in the game from first hand experience, that's in physics. God knows what it's like in other fields.

[@udaypsaroj]

Physics- like can you elaborate? I'm curious!

[@AJewFR0]

@@udaypsaroj Take string theory for instance, people have failed for 30 years in the research of it, yet it’s still the main area in research for new post docs. It’s because there is no skin in the game. They get the grants and have receive no negative feedback for failure.

[@ThePublicPunisher]

Skin in the game, a simple and really oooold concept, that good parents, grandpas and Taleb would recall to any family member to assess the risk of any subject or decision in life.

[@thedananti]

This is the best interview with Taleb ever, a real gem.

[@swatisquantum]

Came for @Naval, stayed for “symmetric contract skin-in-the-game wisdom” 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[@usamash]

the way they sit is amazing too.

[@gd9259]

Naval is so used to being the expert. The best Nassim interviewer would just keep the crowd engaged so Nassim could keep talking.

[@SandeepNavghane]

HIGHLIGHTS 4:15 NNT: On Ludic Fallacy 5:16 NNT: The Expert Problem 8:59 NNT: "Businesses where you're judged by your peers, will eventually rot." 9:40 NNT: "When a firm becomes very large, it cannot associate a p&l, attribute it directly to a certain person." 11:13 NNT: On journalism, IYIs and Paul Krugman 12:42 NR: "There's no point in bullshitting financial assets cause you can just go short it." 15:04 NNT: On The Code of Hammurabi 16:40 NNT: On the Bob Rubin Trade Watched till 22:00

[@anchitbajpai6213]

Thanks for this man. Super helpful.

[@anchitbajpai6213]

23:20 NNT : Distribution of loss. 25:40 NNT : Historical reference to risk accommodation by leaders. 29:15 NNT : Harvian Signalling. 30:30 NNT : On Christ not being god because of not having skin in a game. 33:25 NNT : on entrepreneurship and not joining NGO. 35:00 NNT : Social mobility and inequality, difference between statistic and dynamic inequality. 36:56 NNT : Society recognises risk takers. 37:05 NR : difference between equality of outcome and equality of opportunity. 38:11 NNT : chances of S&P 500 company life being 11 years from 60. 38:40 NNT: On Green Lumber fallacy, paradox of being an expert. 41:10 NNT: Perception bias. 42:45 NR: startup selection and perception bias. 47:40 NNT: Asymmetrical opportunities. 50:20 NNT: Trial and error. 52:15 NNT: on Paul Krugman. 53:40 NNT : on Lindy Effect. 1:00:20 NNT and NR: on Minority Rule. 1:06:33 NR: uncompromising radicals. 1:12:25 NNT: on Black Swan. 1:14:30 NNT: on Hergadicity. 1:17:24 NR: Loss Aversion

[@deenzmartin6695]

these individuals are legendary

[@praveenrai6965]

I keep reading his books (for more than a decade now), just to stay grounded in the version of reality that has stood the test of time every time I see/listen to a haughty "expert" or a virtue-signaling journo, or an academic with multiple peer-reviewed papers who foolishly tries to "educate" real-world practitioners or all those modern "rationalists" who decry the wisdom passed on by ancient traditions that have survived millennia (Lindy effect). Only then I am at peace. Taleb is a must read if you want to navigate this complex world better and avoid BS vendors you encounter in every sphere of public life.

[@jabriyacoop]

Well said Praveen

[@JimIngramDC]

Taleb doesn't answer the question in his advice to 'go start a business' as the only 'virtuous pursuit' who is to work in areas that the 'market' and 'risk-takers' don't inhabit...police, climate change science, governance, creation, interpretation, enforcement of contracts, national defense, education health

[@julsius]

rationality has more lindy effect and has stood the test of time longer than any other ancient tradition. its got us to where we are today. other ancient traditions (religions and the like) are rough encodings of ancient rationales. someone got bitten by a snake and died? avoid that snake. that colour berry is poisonous. avoid it. that is rationality. religions are cheap encodings that error like games of chinese whispers. they do sometimes contain useful rationales / wisdoms, but nothing that cant be encoded without the dogma.

[@lesterroberts1628]

​@@JimIngramDC ikr. I'm guessing that a those considering work in the job market are not simultaneously considering going to law school to learn the loopholes of capitalism. Therefore, the advice to go start a business is probably directed at a small audience

[@ephi124]

Exactly!!!

[@sommi888]

💙🧡💛💚 WE love you Nassim and Naval 💙🧡💛💚

[@WSBWallstreetBets]

There wasn't a real discourse here. It was mainly Nassim talking, I was hoping to hear a balanced discussion between the two. I'm glad they came together regardless though.

[@roland2520]

you don't argue with NNT ;-)

[@mfundodlamini8544]

I felt the same way too......like Nassim keeps dorminating like this was an intelectually battle field...not judging thats how I feel....still good to listen and watch

[@h.l.hackney4237]

Nassim's description of Friedman and Krugman is spot on!

[@yushaos]

well worth watching it again in 2020.

[@bon12121]

Naval: "Jews run the world... ... Do not quote me on that" Nassim: "You're being filmed!"

[@bon12121]

Naval: "If you're willing to tolerate intolerance than you've got to live with the consequences"

[@hinglishtrader]

Conversation starts at 43:20 with the introduction. Thank me later 🙏

[@quasa0]

wtf? the first 40 minutes were amazing

[@quasa0]

i actually learned stuff

[@Xdrakemanx]

real recognize real

[@mangeshpuranik31]

It’s surreal to see Nassim Taleb not having strong opinions about Bitcoin. Great discussion :)

[@juanmoraleschavez6962]

I love this class

[@CollinsIheagwara]

I’m glad I spent time watching this. It is so refreshing to listen to two of the finest minds. Can we have this as a podcast please ? I would definitely want to listen to this again

[@TheRealScurred]

Love Taleb. He's awesome

[@oantimido]

43:51 -> I am, Naval. =D

[@TheEtrepreneur]

Naval Ravikant literally looks like Yoda.

[@harryheart6018]

Reading NNT, saw Naval just a week ago on JRE and am invested/ing into BTC. Stars aligning perfectly!

[@vimalcurio]

How do you feel about that now lol

[@harryheart6018]

@@vimalcurio All in! :) Naval is a scammer though, and NNT is a huckster. ;)

[@vimalcurio]

@@harryheart6018 naval is an entrepreneur not a scammer.

[@contrastprinciple4389]

Loves me some Nassim. His twitter feed is pretty awesome too.

[@byzantinegold]

This is a weird talk, are they having a conversation or is Nassim explaining his book?

[@ac695]

Greatest crossover in history.

[@rahm5596]

Amazing

[@mirko1989]

- brutaly briliant

[@aniljagruth7664]

Great to hear,can u tell the sequence of reading his 5books

[@ycnexu]

Who needs marvel/dc superheroes when we have Taleb?

[@5Gazto]

It is unbelievable how I have always thought in the same way the Nassim Taleb but I use different vocabulary, terms and ways of explaining the same concepts. For example, for IYI (Intellectual Yet Idiot) I have the term Sophisticated Idiot. For Convexity function I say, well, trial and error where mistakes do not cause permanent hamr or death, I also use the engineering term "test bed", where mistakes are encouraged in a debug mode ( not release mode). For Hamurabi's symetric punishment, I have always realized that people with low morality will only do what's right for society if they themselves are harmed if they er or if they do risky stuff, AKA quid pro quo. For fat tail events we have paranoia, for lack of focus on theory we have tinkering and so on.

[@MarcPfeiffer]

You need concrete experiences to connect conceptual theories to. Reading a theory book from someone who has not played the game is risky. You need a framework for continuously testing and iterating and learning form those iterations to try new things for real true learning. A framework to differentiate what works from what doesn't. Great talk

[@vx7678]

This man is a living legend

[@raymeester7883]

Obviously.

[@RR-et6zp]

why? isn't everything he says common sense?

[@nicholasscholten4838]

Skin in the game is on audible which is great on a road trip

[@jstanley011]

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.

[@carloslope159]

I have a friend who is annoying, arrogant nasty and smart. He is still a great friend and he is still all of those things and he sort of knows it. Naval here is me through life with this friend trying to be a good sport and accepting that my friend is kinda totally self-centered.

[@ItachiUchiha-ub2iu]

Haha

[@AKPrashant]

@1:15:43 Who is the Nobel laureate that Mr. Nassim Nicholas Taleb referring to in his monologue?

[@healthymealthy775]

I love Nassim Taleb! I think he's one of the greatest "intellectuals" of our time. He speaks about 10 languages, so you'll have to excuse his English. What's extraordinary about him is he thinks JUST like the late great Michael Crichton. Now I know why I like him so much.

[@adhithyaravindra7580]

Is that Robert Breedlove with the MacBook in the crowd?

[@westcoastflaneur]

lol @ 21:49 Naval's face says it all. but Taleb is devilishly nonchalant in his ways

[@rahulkakkarscience]

32:49 - Build businesses and fail. You need to fail. It's more honorable to fail than be who never tried. 48:00 - Options 48:10 - How to do well in long run 50:30 - Trial and error will always outperform iq or design 51:22 - Symmetry - Concave(fragile) and convex(antifragile) 1:00:49 - In a complex system, at different scales/sizes(organic bodies) things behave differently i.e a collection of individuals don't behave as individuals, but as a different animal. Eg. children 1:03:14 - Minority Rule 1:13:08 - Science is not about proving but about disapproving 1:17:15 - Seeing things dynamically(in sequence) not statically 1:19:17 - How to take risks. Simple, take all the risks you can just make sure you can show up the next day. 1:21:10 - summary

[@lightninginmyhands4878]

34:23 - classic. Cameraman cuts to audience when Trump is brought up

[@raj32613261]

If anyone came over to expect an engaging discussion like myself best go elsewhere. Two incredibly smart guys spending an hour plus of their time promoting Taleb’s books. If you’ve read them, don’t stick around. If you haven’t just read them, they’re very important and well written, and well worth the investment. Taleb is a great writer. His public speaking doesn’t do him justice. Go read his stuff instead.

[@benyaminewanganyahu]

But this talk is 1 hour 24 mins whereas the book would take me at least a few hours to read. Still recommend the books? Every non-fiction book I've ever read can be condensed into a few pages and then it's up to you to start thinking about it.

[@flitzgerald7984]

@@benyaminewanganyahu In the words of Taleb, " The only possible summary of the Incerto can be the Incerto" ofcourse I'm paraphrasing.

[@benyaminewanganyahu]

@@flitzgerald7984 That's great if it's true and I'll read it (six months after my first comment!), but I read many reviews saying that he gives many examples and ramblings which reinforce his point but which are actually redundant.

[@plsegott]

@@benyaminewanganyahu dont read reviews lol. just go and read the book. he is one of the few thinkers today that are worth reading.

[@eagiz]

​@@benyaminewanganyahu A redundant example for person A could very well be the reason why person B will understand the idea being presented. I'd say that it is a bit ignorant by those reviewers to dismiss the books simply because they themselves could grasp and remember the idea without the need of so called "redundant" examples. But Nassim could of course typeface the examples so that "quick absorbents of information" could skip them more easily.

[@raymeester7883]

The book's cover looks likes a Newsweek cover.

[@HAHA-ix9vx]

5:33 in theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is difference

[@dziugaschvoinikov4440]

18:50 was this sarcasm from Nassim? It looked so funny to me how he said really really and then clapped fiercely.

[@Goldenpill]

Such a brilliant mind!

[@SimplyAndy]

Taleb's parting words - "I don't know, if you keep talking like this I'll stop (writing more books)." Lol. 1:23:07

[@Hypnusrecords]

"Anyone capable of writing a business plan, you don't want to invest in them."

[@harleywoolford5247]

Krugman said stock market would fall after Trump was elected. His predictions are often wack yet he always mocks anyone that disagrees with him

[@imadmoujahid3431]

the great Nassim is not angry, it's just people hate him,because he is so good.

[@MrTerrorFace]

31:40 "Any virtue that doesn't entail some kind of sacrifice or cost is not virtue." When Taleb goes on explaining that virtue signalling where it's showing how virtuous you are that doesn't involve any costs or risk taking. AKA fake virtue. That's brilliant.

[@fosatech]

Which is absolutely true, but saying that about Christ shows that he doesn't really understand the nature of *why* he came to earth. He had more skin in the game than an human ever could.

[@Leebrucehe]

When will Naval start speaking?

[@ssamiuddin1]

Two of my favourite thinkers alive :)

[@RR-et6zp]

why? isn't everything he says common sense?

[@ouriel]

Where is the conversation here?

[@tonyc_1]

taleb not above giving hearty applause -- at 18:50, he didn't seem to know that the bitcoin genesis block mentioned the '2008 bank bailouts' as a reason for creating btc.

[@tdreamgmail]

He knows skin in the game when he sees it. Glad he recognised it and responded in kind because it's very hard to impress Nassim Taleb!

[@user-wv5tp1qe8i]

January 1 2009 I believe

[@vimalcurio]

​@@tdreamgmailhe hates bitcoin now tho

[@sourabhvora2164]

Off the shelves. Within close to 360 hours.

[@amranha_]

Is that Robert Breedlove in audience? 35:30

[@kyosefgofa]

These are bookmarks for myself 8:00 -ish do not be judged by peers. It is because it is usually disconnected by reality. Focus on impressing people on the outside of your industry

[@yaghiyahbrenner8902]

good talk but man it sounds like a one way conversation, naval is just a gentle giant, he shoots from the hip.

[@FRNKNSTNmusic]

Circular citation ring 😭

[@bogga56]

I want to say one thing here. Im hearinf á new birdsong hér on my balcony.

[@kaustavpal5510]

Seems like Taleb did not research his host. On hindsight, Bitcoin does not seem to be the answer to the wiles of Wall st.

[@avinashprasad2]

What happened at 18:50 ? 😂 Is he mocking Naval?

[@vimalcurio]

Yes. He hates bitcoin

[@SachinDolta]

He didn't hate back then

[@ycnexu]

32:40 "young kids ask me what I should be doing"...

[@ByWayOfDeception]

I literally have to get Nassim's books in print because the audio versions are just performed with snarkiness. Sorry if he unapologetically opinionated and often right, I guess publishers don't know how to present that in an audiobook.

[@rodgeraarons8997]

Let Naval speak

[@lukemakayabu4369]

Interesting how Taleb doesn't comment on Bitcoin

[@Josephus_vanDenElzen]

8:27 hahha come here kiddo... you can go now

[@moseskirimi8299]

Great speakers

[@AnyFactor]

17:40 classic Taleb. Usually, he will just not let other people talk but here he is throwing the dude who has been silent the whole time under the bus anyway.

[@pradeepk6941]

i haven't read the book yet.. can i watch this before reading this book??

[@random-dw3hq]

Yeah no spoilers here

[@ckamal1]

PK DP he's not a mystery writer

[@raymeester7883]

October 11, 2018.

[@boski6666]

The only problem with the chemist analogy is that he severely underestimates the amount of pizza chemists eat :)

[@merc9nine]

I love Nassim, but Naval should do his presentation for him and could do it in 6 minutes

[@luciemartineau3864]

this dood is fax no printer

[@williamballew5738]

Is that @ragnarly in the second row?

[@BLOCKCON]

no

[@williamballew5738]

Bullshit yeah it is

[@arielle_australia]

I want to like Taleb, but I can't shake the "fake guru" vibe every time I hear him talk. A man who criticises everyone needs to be more comfortable in his own skin.

[@oantimido]

Taleb has his flaws and all, but by his uncomfortable speech at start I get a serious feeling that they told him about sharing stage with naval 5 minutes prior. Compare with his talk on the same subject (his book ) at Google. Also, when NNT told twitter he was bailing BTC Naval joined in to convince him to reconsider. So they seem to be on good terms. Event organizers often do this, and they should stop.

[@PhilippeLarcher]

Yeah why would he start with a talk w/ deck if it's scheduled as a "fireside chat"?

[@rocmike]

Robert Breedlove first row, great!

[@Josephus_vanDenElzen]

50:52 bitcoin is it a asymmetric bet

[@Bristol678]

59:00 - Resume from here

[@navedrizv]

Came here for Naval, No luck.

[@midlomoderate4292]

My prophet.