Years ago a friend of mine gave me a book. I put it with other books and let it gather dust for more than a decade. It is a decision I regret. I misjudged a little book by its cover.
When I came across it the other day I made it part of my summer reading. Its content has helped me to reflect and understand many things I’ve read and conversation I have engaged in. I also reflected on something my school principal told me about choosing words by weighing their value and meaning. For example, It is not important that we swear, what is important is the value of the word. In other words we need to know it is alright to swear if there is no other word of equal value. He then introduced us to a vault full of descriptive words that dwarf the value of swear words.
Why do I mention this before revealing the book title? To emphasize its impact. Because the book is about a subject we seldom give cause to really think about. It was written in 2005 and is still available. It was written by Philosopher, Harry G Frankfurst.
Its title? “On Bullshit”
It is akin to an essay paper.
He puts forth a theory defining the concept as to what qualifies as legitimate bullshit in the context of communication. He also defines bullshit as speech intended to persuade people without regard for the truth. A loose interpretation from Wikipedia
After reading the content a picture emerges as to how people make presentations to government, or the manner in which governments feed us information. It also demonstrates just how important a roll bullsh*t plays in communication.
If you are puzzled by how easy it’s been to hoodwink so many Americans following Trump some answers become evident. Another example is how we just accept what our government tells us with barely a question in many cases.
‘On Bullshit’ is actually a very insightful read. It’s a quick read of 67 pages written by a recognized moral philosopher and a professor of philosophy emeritus at Princeton University,
I am sure you will find it informative and engaging and that’s no bull.
Fred Steele