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WILD_CARD


                                             May  9, 2008

What Taleb likes to call
"Black Swans" I've always             A usage I think I picked up
called "Wild Cards" or                from the Toadkeeper.
"Jokers".
                                            TOADKEEPER
He would no doubt object that this
implies an upper limit on the value                  For guys like us, gambling
(and hence falls into the "ludic                     has an aura of tough-guy
fallacy"), but metaphorically, the                   "cool" about it, despite
rules are not quite so rigid:                        the fact that neither of
                                                     us have any interest in
   "Like any dealer he was watching for the card     actually gambling, and
    that is so high and wild                         regard it as a really
    he'll never need to deal another                 stupid waste of time.
    He was just some Joseph looking for a manger"
                                                       Similarly drug terms
         -- Leonard Cohen "Stranger Song",             have a certain "cool"
                                                       appeal for me, despite
                                                       the fact that I regard
                                                       recreational drugs as a
                                                       snare and a delusion.

                                                       DRUGS






             Cohen lyrics verifed from:

             [ref]







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