Taleb to Musk: 'Saying the coronavirus panic is dumb is dumb.'
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, whose book “The Black Swan” foreshadowed the 2008 global financial crisis, responded to Elon Musk’s tweet about what he called a panic over the coronavirus with a brief lesson on probability and human endurance over the millennia.
Companies from Apple AAPL, +7.20% to Alphabet GOOG, +5.33% GOOGL, +4.88% said over the past few days that they’d close their offices and ask employees to work from home to curtail the spread of the novel virus, which has led to more than 3,000 deaths around the world since the beginning of January. Taleb, a professor and investor whose work has focused on the risks of unexpected events, followed up in a Saturday tweet: “If the word ‘panic’ means ‘exaggerated’ reaction, could be so at the individual level but NOT at the collective one. ... We have survived for zillion years thanks to ‘irrational’ ‘panics.’”
That’s because if one fails to panic and act in an “ultraconservative” manner, he said in a Twitter thread that links to a March 5 tweet, a virus can spread more easily and become a “severe” source of risk for the entire system — or, in this case, society.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Coronavirus ‘Cure’ Claims Get FTC Warning, So Maybe Don’t Drink SilverScience says drinking silver won’t cure coronavirus, but companies offering the “cure” are trying to capitalize on the COVID-19 panic across Facebook and Twitter.
Read more »
Teas, Essential Oils And Drinking Silver: FTC Warns About Dubious Coronavirus ‘Cures’Science says drinking silver won’t cure coronavirus, but companies offering the “cure” are trying to capitalize on the COVID-19 panic across Facebook and Twitter.
Read more »
Japan PM says won't hesitate to do what's needed in coronavirus fightJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday the government would carry ou...
Read more »
ICE says no confirmed coronavirus among detainees, but four meet criteria for testingICE says no confirmed coronavirus among detainees — but four are now being tested
Read more »
Dr. Drew and Dr. Oz Rip Media for Coronavirus Panic, Urge Common SenseDr. Drew and Dr. Oz are still urging people to listen to reason and not panic over coronavirus.
Read more »