Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

“The mark of a charlatan is to defend his position or attack a critic by focusing on some specific statement (“ look at what he said”) rather than blasting his exact position (“ look at what he means” or, more broadly, “look at what he stands for”)— for the latter requires an extensive grasp of the proposed idea.” The fact that he attacks those who leave negative reviews should also tell you something. This quote from Mr. Taleb perfectly summarizes my problems with his book. The general theme of the book is that one should be wary of those making decisions who lack consequences of those decisions. The book shines when he focuses on that major theme. His perspectives on every from foreign affairs and the economy were both fascinating and and fair. It is when he dives into his personal disagreements from recent years that he begins to bluster. He disagrees with author Steven Pinker, doesn't trust modern medicine, and doesn't want to eat GMOs, Fine. But he can't seem to go very long without going back to those three things over and over again. And he refuses to take his own advice on those topics. Rather than bothering to look at what those he disagrees with stands for, he just insults them and insinuates delusional smear campaigns against himself. And while this may be a cherry picked quote from the book, as it is blatantly dangerous, I feel it needs to be said. Mr. Taleb tells his readers not to listen to their doctors when they are advised to take statins. This advice could literally kill people, and is the reason I felt the need to lower it to only 1 star. In the end he sounds like an old man yelling at clouds. He is living a lonely life and wants to spend entire chapters explaining why he is better than everyone that has a different lifestyle. Like any old man he has some good advice mixed in with the incoherent rambling.