normative
Choose the Surgeon Who Looks Like a Butcher
Given two surgeons of equal hospital status, you should choose the one who looks like a butcher rather than the one who looks like a movie-cast surgeon, because the unpolished one likely succeeded despite the appearance bias working against them—a selection argument that what shines is not gold and that those who lack the expected surface signals had to be genuinely better to reach the same position.
normativepending
Speaker
Nassim Nicholas TalebEvidence Quote
“Conditional on both of them having the same, say, status in the hospital and being offered as to, you know, alternatives, I'd pick the one who looks like the butcher.”
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:20:19 AM
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