This online relationship between these two intellectuals continues to be highly entertaining:
NassimNicholasTaleb @nntaleb
1/ Many aggressive pseudolibs have smthg highly politically incorrect hidden in them.
-Weinstein demeans women
-Mary Beard is deeply racist
73 replies 83 retweets 299 likesmary beard @wmarybeard 3h3 hours ago
Could you please take this tweet down.
28 replies 10 retweets 262 likesNassimNicholasTaleb @nntaleb
Dear Prof. Beard,
I am aware of your attempts (direct & via an overactive mob) at constraining my rights of expression. The answer is no.
About the only way it could get better is if Beard is dumb enough to take Taleb, who never backs down from a fight, to court. I have no doubt that he’d be able to prove his case six different ways and end up with Beard being forced to pay for an official court determination of her own racism.
For crying out loud, all Taleb has to do is cite any of 500 different African-American scholars to conclusively prove that Mary Beard is white, therefore his assertion is true and cannot possibly be considered defamatory.
In fact, this may be an interesting new anti-SJW front in the cultural war.