Bullshit, not lies, is the corrosive influence blighting our public life

[Soph0571]

‘Bullshit,” the philosopher Harry Frankfurt observed in a seminal essay on the subject, “is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about.
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We live in an age obsessed by fake news and politicians’ lies. These are issues important to tackle. We should not ignore, however, the more insidious culture of bullshit.

A liar, observed Frankfurt, knows what the truth is and wants to conceal it. To that extent, he is “respectful of it”. A bullshitter, on the other hand, does not care what is true or false. That’s why, Frankfurt suggested, bullshitting, even more than lying, is what is truly corrosive of politics, of society and of truth.

[link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/02/bullshit-not-lies-is-the-real-corrosive-influence-blighting-our-public-life|

Excellent distinction I think

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

1. I've renamed "bullshit" to...

Trumpshit a while back...still, even better maybe, Trumpshit fits that definition...talking without knowing.

[treestar]

2. I recall fellow students in college

when it came to subjects that used essay tests, they thought all they had to do was "bullshit" and the professor would be fooled. I think we value that "ability" too much. And often reward people who perform it well with offices or sales.