Quote Originally Posted by Mike T View Post
As far as I can tell Aseem's claims about the mRNA vaccines are not taken seriously by those in the know. His 2 papers - published in an obscure journal of which he is one of the editors - have been soundly demolished by a couple of experts I trust. Even Tassim Nicholas Taleb calls his view on vaccines "BS".

One of the problems with social media is that even utter nonsense will have lots of supporters.

I have had 4 vaccinations against Covid - and - over the years, possibly 15 or so against 'flu. A slightly sore arm a couple of times - no other side effects.

I'm not on Twitter, but browsing the internet I did see how Tassim Nicholas Tableb raged about Asseem calling his work "BS".

Interestingly, I also noted a few of Tassim's quoted 'wisdoms';

"The psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer has a simple heuristic. Never ask the doctor what you should do. Ask him what he would do if he were in your place. You would be surprised at the difference"
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

He appears to be advocating questioning of the established authority too,

and...

"Charm is the ability to insult people without offending them; nerdiness the reverse"
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb

"It is my great hope someday, to see science and decision-makers rediscover what the ancients have always known. Namely that our highest currency is respect."
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable


Tassim seems to be a bit of a charmless nerd by his own definition, and fails to take his own advice, unless of course we don't take him seriously at his word - there's a word for such empty spouting that I also think Tassim is fond of using