Tightrope walking satirical or acidic contexts. Nicholas Taleb uses the phrase in his book "The Black Swan". "You get respect for doing funambulism or spectator sports". Taleb is criticising scientists who prefer popularism to vigorous research and those who walk a fixed and narrow path rather than explore a large field of empirical study. Tightrope walking Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope walking and slacklining. Acrobats maintain their
Crank (person) presidency. In 1882, the term was used to describe Charles Guiteau, who shot U.S. president James Garfield. Following news reports of Guiteau's trial, "crank" spread to describe obsessed baseball fans. In 1906, "Nature" offered essentially the same definition which is used here: The word "crackpot" apparently also first appeared in 1883: In "Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary", the terms "crackpot", "crackbrain", and "cracked" are synonymous, and suggest a metaphorically "broken" head. The terms "crazy" and "crazed" also originally meant "broken" and derive from the same root word as "cracked". The dictionary gives no indication that "pate" and "pot" have the same