18 Jun 2003 raph   » (Master)

Bullshit

chalst: Your link to the essay on bullshit is most excellent. I've been toying with the idea of doing a blog essay on the theme of lies and lying, but I now see that "bullshit" is the superior concept. It applies so well to so many things I've been thinking about recently: the "evidence" justifying the war against Iraq, the SCO lawsuit, the way Time magazine flogs TW/AOL product on their front cover, and countless more. It's all bullshit.

Now here's a question: is the blog form more or less prone to bullshit than mainstream media? I'd say there's a lot more diversity in blogs, so if you're seeking to cut through the bullshit, you have a much greater chance of success in blogs. But blogs also seem to be pretty good at spreading bullshit.

Hopefully, in this age of high-tech communications gear, the study of bullshit can become both quantitative and prescriptive - to design, and choose, communications fora with the explicit goal of minimizing it. Sign me up!

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