Greek god. Philosopher. Adonis. The only person on earth who has earned the right to have an opinion about anything. All appropriate characterizations of one Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and the way at least three-quarters of all living homo sapiens have described NNT in their conversations with friends and in their diaries. And while his many admirers have surely studied him in great detail in the hopes of one day having the opportunity to unlock his heart or simply bask in his reflected glory for a moment or two, not everyone has a comprehensive list of the things that rev Taleb's engine and, more importantly, that tick him off. Luckily, a recent profile by Chronicle writer Tom Bartlett has produced a near-complete guide to the likes and dislikes of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Read it, print it out, carry it in your pocket-- but really, consider taking the time to commit it to memory. Your chance may only come along once and you don't want to fuck it up by fumbling around your notes because you can't remember what his thoughts are on "bourgeois bohemian bonus earners" or fruit.
Likes:
Pumping iron ("He writes in Antifragile that readers, upon meeting him, 'have a rough time dealing with an intellectual who has the appearance of a bodyguard.' I wouldn't have guessed bodyguard, though he is thicker—thanks to a newfound love of weightlifting")
Smart sciences
Sandals
People with "skin in the game"
Double espressos
Guessing games ("He asked me how much I thought he made during the crisis. 'I don't know,' I said. 'Guess.' 'Five million?' He laughed. 'Try times 10,' he said.")
Footnotes
Dislikes:
Professors
Business schools ("specifically the one at Harvard," which "lectures birds to fly and then arrogantly claim credit when the fledglings become airborne")
Structured learning
Fruits without Greek or Hebrew names
Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig
Editors
"Unctuous, fawning travel assistants"
"Bourgeois bohemian bonus earners"
Meetings
Appointments
Doctors
Paul Krugman
Thomas Friedman
Nerds
Bureaucrats
Air conditioning
TV
Soccer moms
Smooth surfaces
Federal Reserve bankers
Bankers period
Economists ("weak, ignorant, fearful, and generally pathetic")
Robert C. Merton
Myron Scholes
Gary Pisano
Career academics
Sissies
Fakes
"Bureaucrato-journalistic talk"
Bob Rubin
Google News
Marketing
Neckties
"The inexorable disloyalty of Mother Nature"
Social sciences
Regular shoes
Hope this was helpful. Good luck out there.
This Is Not A Profile Of Nassim Taleb [Chronicle]
Related: Nassim Nicholas Taleb Became The Chiseled Adonis You See Before You Through A Strict Regimen Of Picking Up Rocks And Lying In Bed For Two Years
