Detect bullshit

More than a century ago the philosopher John Alexander Smith addressed a freshmen class at Oxford University saying: "Nothing you learn in the course of your studies hereafter will be of any use to you. Just remember this, if you work hard and intelligently you should be able to detect when a man is talking nonsense; This, in my opinion, is the main purpose - if not the only purpose - of education." This is the best book about bullshit, a book about how we are inundated with it, how we can learn to see through it, and how we can resist, refute, and defeat it. Through the book, we will first understand what nonsense is? Where does it come from? Why is so much of it produced? Spotting bullshit isn't easy, especially with the daily onslaught of misinformation, and it takes practice and intentional effort. You should remember, dear reader, that calling bullshit is more than just a pretense. It is a powerful act and can be easily abused, but if you make an effort to be clear and truthful and remain reasonably civil, most people will respect you. The world is awash in bullshit and we are drowning in it. Politicians are untethered to facts, science is driven by press releases, Silicon Valley startups elevate bullshit to the level of a high art, colleges and universities reward bullshit at the expense of analytical thought, and the majority of administrative activity appears to be nothing more than a complex exercise in re-creating bullshit. The assemblage of nonsense. Advertisers wink conspiratorially and invite us to join them in seeing through all the nonsense. We respond by winking, but in doing so we let our guard down and are duped by the second-rate nonsense they shovel at us. Bullshit pollutes our world by misleading people about specific issues and undermining our ability to trust information in general. This book is an effort to fight back, in which you will learn to spot, deal with, and debunk bullshit.