THE NO-BS MEDIA

My dream is for someone to publish a SuperRigorous No-BS Newspaper, that is, something providing the news based on empirical relevance, that is, completely devoid of sensationalism. It would be based on the causal and nonanecdotal (i.e., empirical) validity of the information: for instance a hurricane killing four people would not be reported as 7000 people die every day in the U.S., thousands from less sensational –but equally tragic –causes. No terrorism on any day would be reported unless it exceeds death from diabetes (which would be a disincentive for terrorists). Financial market events would only be reported if they exceed 3 mean deviations. The paper would be 0 length on some days, and very long on others.

I personally do not need it but it would be mandatory for government; it would make decision-makers and bureaucrats aware that the news is not information. It would separate the news from the entertainment.

Hopefully it would make people who like anecdote switch to the New York Post away the disguized pseudointellectual piece of manure called the New York Times (or French Le Monde). For the NYT is the most harmful piece of junk as their BS is dressed in intellectual garment… Anything that bankrupts the NY Times is good for America.

via THE NO-BS MEDIA My dream is for someone to… – Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Sociopolitical events, debates, and controversies are now lucrative forms of entertainment, as the media employs unpaid and fiercely motivated actors.

via Sociopolitical events, debates, and… – Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

The first one who uses “but” has lost the argument.

via The first one who uses “but” has lost the argument. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Virtue is sequence of small acts of omission. Honor and Grandeur can be a single gutsy, momentous, and self-sacrificial act of commission.

[Rephrasing previous aphorism]

via Virtue is sequence of small acts of omission…. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb.