This is a cheap shot at Ellul, as he has been proved more right than wrong even though he was writing about technology and our technological society since the 1960s-1970s (a very difficult thing to achieve, being right on technology, that is). As such, I personally think that he has “done” a lot more compared to other people, witness how even FB multi-millionaires have started following him and his ideas (knowingly or unknowingly).

> This is a cheap shot at Ellul,

No i was questioning GP's point. Nothing to do with Ellul. I personally don't care if the author has "done something"

Ellul, I would like to think, is someone who came back from the Abyss without losing himself.

Preserving once sanity while reading him is difficult enough, imagine what you would have to go through while you think through these things for years.

Odd comment, given that aside from writing a few ephemeral books and engaging in a ton of pontificating, the only thing Taleb has ever done in his life is move money around on computers for the sole purpose of enriching himself, while Ellul was active in the French Resistance and was honored for his actions to save Jews from the Nazis.

I guess it depends on what one means by "doing something."