"it is contagion that determines the fate of a theory in social science, not its validity." - page 277
ludic fallacy - "the attributes of the uncertainty we face in real life have little connection to the sterilized ones we encounter in exams and games" - page 125
"so when you hear "expers" presenting the problems of uncertainty in terms of subatomic particles, odds are that the expert is a phony." - page 287
Apparently there is a greater uncertainty principle in quantum physics that states that "one cannot measure certain pairs of values, such as the position and momentum of particles." Your precision is limited.
Nassim's argument is that, although the particles cannot be pinned down, "these uncertainties are very small and very numerous, and they average out!"
In other words, they lie within Mediocristan and therefore, any particular measurement attributed to the position of a particle has relatively no impact on the object at stake. This uncertainty can be ruled out as insignificant towards the greater scientific claims.
Side note on philosophers:
"These people are professionally employed in the business of questioning what we take for granted; they are trained to argue about the existence of god(s), the definition of truth, the redness of red, the meaning of meaning, the difference between semantic theories of truth, conceptual and nonconceptual representations...Yet they believe blindly in the stock market, and in the abilities of their pension plan manager." - 290
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