On Bullshit

Bullshit is a different phenomenon than lying, as lying attempts to influence while being aware of what is true, bullshit on the other hand attempts to influence without any consideration about what is true, or what truth even means.

“Bullshit,” as we define it here, is any expression that holds outcome in higher regard than truth.

In conversation, we can feel someone is bullshitting us when they aren’t exactly lying, but their entire way of conversing is more centered on making a point or achieving a certain outcome than it is about accurately representing what’s true for them... See more

From John Vervaeke: there’s a difference between lying and bullshitting. Lying is about debating the nature of the truth, but bullshitting is more dangerous. A bullshitter acknowledges a lack of truth, but compels you to look somewhere else. When you’re bullshitting yourself, it’s not that your dishonest with yourself, it’s that you don’t have the

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The skillful practice of ignorance cannot be reduced to the avoidance of bullshit. It would be self-defeating to deprive oneself of bullshit completely, for bullshit is the air we breathe, and we could not learn or accomplish anything without it.

They are what philosopher Harry Frankfurt would call “bullshitters.” Those that are giving advice for the sake of giving advice, without any regard as to how it is actually implemented, if it can even be implemented at all. “It’s not important to [the bullshitter] what the world really is like,” he says in a short video documentary about the phenom... See more