Nassim will be pleased to know I am eager to review his new book. In his web notes (he can't figure out how to make a blog for his comments, reminds me of my dad), he states:

I just had to withdraw a piece from publication. The copy editor wanted to “improve” the sentences. I pulled it out immediately upon hearing claims that she represented the “general public”, with the assumption that she knew what the “general public” needed –not realizing that she was talking to an empiricist who despises impressions (based on anecdotal evidence) & pompously stated superstitious. There is an expert problem with copy editors particularly when they are self-appointed representatives of the “general public”. (“Advice” from book editors reminds me of Warren Buffet’s comment about people in limos taking stock tips from people who ride the subway).

This is what I love about Taleb. He is thin-skinned and pompous, even as he notes the pompousness of someone who would deign to criticize him, a consistent hypocritical stance for him. You see, he thinks his genius must be unedited and unrefereed (peer review? who is worthy?). Alas, everyone needs help, and just as most people look better with clothes on even though this obscures their real self, most people's writing needs editing even as it clouds the essence of a true person (eg, actual genius Richard Feynman was a poor writer and speaker, grammatically, and thankfully acknowledged his editors and secretaries help in making his articles more readable). Stephen J. Gould, for example, was such a good writer (I read Panda's Thumb in my introductory English Composition class in college), he was able to use this reputation to insist his articles were henceforth unedited. This lead to the decline in his scholarship, as his later books were horribly rambling compared to his much more readable and tightly argued earlier books (his last book was 1400 pages, and much unremarked).

How dare they change Taleb's dangling modifiers! He is someone in a limo, and doesn't take advice from plebeians in the subway. But if you do say something about him, get ready, because he or his acolytes (the Taleban?) will descend swiftly. Web Vandalism he calls it. Oh joy.