Download or read book Bullsh t Comparisons written by Andrew Brooks and published by Footnote Press. This book was released on 2024-03-28 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life is complicated, comparisons are easy. We consume enormous quantities of information every day from sources that are reliable, and those less trustworthy, including journalists, politicians, friends and social media. One of the most commons tools we use to communicate is comparison. Are we suffering a 'hurricane' of migrants? Do dogs look like their owners? Is Oxford better than Harvard? Metaphors, models and metrics are used to compare anything from schools, to wars, to iconic people. But how helpful are they? What truths do they hide and what bullsh*t do comparisons propagate? Looking across a fascinating range of situations both familiar and unfamiliar, serious and light-hearted, Bullsh*t Comparisons is a ground-breaking guide to the role of could-be-true but misleading comparisons. It is illuminated by examples spanning the globe from university league tables, to childhood rivalries, politicians' tawdry analogies, the FIFA World Footballer of the year award and Chinese neo-colonialism in Africa. Ideal for anyone interested in critical thinking or who simply wants to be able to spot bullsh*t at twenty paces, this thought-provoking, intelligent and often amusing book will challenge you to think critically about the use of comparison.

Download or read book Calling Bullshit written by Carl T. Bergstrom and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bullshit isn’t what it used to be. Now, two science professors give us the tools to dismantle misinformation and think clearly in a world of fake news and bad data. “A modern classic . . . a straight-talking survival guide to the mean streets of a dying democracy and a global pandemic.”—Wired Misinformation, disinformation, and fake news abound and it’s increasingly difficult to know what’s true. Our media environment has become hyperpartisan. Science is conducted by press release. Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art. We are fairly well equipped to spot the sort of old-school bullshit that is based in fancy rhetoric and weasel words, but most of us don’t feel qualified to challenge the avalanche of new-school bullshit presented in the language of math, science, or statistics. In Calling Bullshit, Professors Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West give us a set of powerful tools to cut through the most intimidating data. You don’t need a lot of technical expertise to call out problems with data. Are the numbers or results too good or too dramatic to be true? Is the claim comparing like with like? Is it confirming your personal bias? Drawing on a deep well of expertise in statistics and computational biology, Bergstrom and West exuberantly unpack examples of selection bias and muddled data visualization, distinguish between correlation and causation, and examine the susceptibility of science to modern bullshit. We have always needed people who call bullshit when necessary, whether within a circle of friends, a community of scholars, or the citizenry of a nation. Now that bullshit has evolved, we need to relearn the art of skepticism.

Download or read book On Bullshit written by Harry G. Frankfurt and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-10 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 New York Times bestseller Featured on The Daily Show and 60 Minutes The acclaimed book that illuminates our world and its politics by revealing why bullshit is more dangerous than lying One of the most prominent features of our world is that there is so much bullshit. Yet we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, how it’s distinct from lying, what functions it serves, and what it means. In his acclaimed bestseller On Bullshit, Harry Frankfurt, who was one of the world’s most influential moral philosophers, explores this important subject, which has become a central problem of politics and our world. With his characteristic combination of philosophical acuity, psychological insight, and wry humor, Frankfurt argues that bullshitters misrepresent themselves to their audience not as liars do, that is, by deliberately making false claims about what is true. Rather, bullshitters seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing their end of the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Although bullshit can take many innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the bullshitter’s capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying does not. Liars at least acknowledge that the truth matters. Because of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are. Remarkably prescient and insightful, On Bullshit is a small book that explains a great deal about our time.

Download or read book Bullshit Jobs written by David Graeber and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From David Graeber, the bestselling author of The Dawn of Everything and Debt—“a master of opening up thought and stimulating debate” (Slate)—a powerful argument against the rise of meaningless, unfulfilling jobs…and their consequences. Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world? In the spring of 2013, David Graeber asked this question in a playful, provocative essay titled “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.” It went viral. After one million online views in seventeen different languages, people all over the world are still debating the answer. There are hordes of people—HR consultants, communication coordinators, telemarketing researchers, corporate lawyers—whose jobs are useless, and, tragically, they know it. These people are caught in bullshit jobs. Graeber explores one of society’s most vexing and deeply felt concerns, indicting among other villains a particular strain of finance capitalism that betrays ideals shared by thinkers ranging from Keynes to Lincoln. “Clever and charismatic” (The New Yorker), Bullshit Jobs gives individuals, corporations, and societies permission to undergo a shift in values, placing creative and caring work at the center of our culture. This book is for everyone who wants to turn their vocation back into an avocation and “a thought-provoking examination of our working lives” (Financial Times).

Download or read book Social Media Is Bullshit written by B. J. Mendelson and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2012-09-04 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A provocative look at social media that dispels the hype and tells you all you need to know about using the Web to expand your business If you listen to the pundits, Internet gurus, marketing consultants, and even the mainstream media, you could think social media was the second coming. When it comes to business, they declare that it's revolutionizing advertising, PR, customer relations—everything. And they all agree: it is here to stay. In this lively, insightful guide, journalist and social critic B.J. Mendelson skillfully debunks the myths of social media. He illustrates how the notion of "social media" first came to prominence, why it has become such a powerful presence in the marketing field, and who stands to benefit each time it's touted in the press. He shows you why all the Facebook friends and Twitter followers in the world mean nothing to you and your business without old-fashioned, real-world connections. He examines popular tales of social media "success," and reveals some unsettling truths behind the surface. And he tells you how to best harness the potential of the Internet—without spending a fortune in the process. Social media is bullshit. This book gives the knowledge and tools you really need to connect with customers and grow your brand.

Download or read book The No Bullshit Guide to Depression written by Steven Skoczen and published by Ink and Feet, LLC. This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Funny, insightful, and relentlessly honest, this book is the manual for living with depression that everyone should have been given.It's packed with bite-sized chapters covering big-picture concepts, 60+ research-backed tools, and a friendly, no-nonsense style. This guide will get you through visits from depression and into a value-filled life.

Download or read book No Bullsh t Leadership written by Martin G. Moore and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What makes a truly exceptional leader? Discover the practical, fail-proof tools that will help you to fine-tune your leadership skills, solidify respect among your workforce, and ensure your company’s lasting success. When Martin G. Moore was asked to rescue a leading energy corporation from ever-increasing debt and a lack of executive accountability, he faced an uphill battle. Not only had he never before stepped into the role of CEO; he also had no experience in the rapidly evolving energy sector. Relying on the practical leadership principles he had honed throughout his thirty-three-year career, he overhauled the company’s culture, redefined its leadership capability, and increased earnings by a compound annual growth rate of 125 percent. In No Bullsh!t Leadership, Moore outlines these proven leadership principles in a clear, direct way. He sweeps away the mystical fog surrounding leadership today and lays out the essential steps for success. Moore combines this tangible advice with honest, real-world examples from his own career to provide a no-nonsense look at the skills a true leader possesses. Moore’s principles for no bullshit leadership focus on: Creating value by focusing only on the things that matter most Facing conflict, adversity, and ambiguity with decisiveness and confidence Setting uncompromising standards for behavior and performance Selecting and developing great people Making those people accountable, and empowering them to do their best Setting simple, value-driven goals and communicating them relentlessly Though the steps aren’t easy, they are guaranteed, if implemented, to lift your leadership–and your organization–to a higher level. Wherever you are in your career, No Bullsh!t Leadership will help you develop the skills and form the habits needed to become a no bullshit leader.

Download or read book I Didn t Believe Any of This Hippie Dippy Bullshit Either written by Julie Rasmussen and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-26 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do our souls know each other before we're born? Does the universe send us signs through license plate numbers? Is Barney Rubble the yang to my yin? What's the acceptable number of napkins to take from Taco Bell? Am I going batshit crazy? Does God care if I swear? What is God? These are the questions one perplexed woman asks after a spontaneous online date leads her on a spiritual odyssey that includes motorcycles, drag queens, psychics, orgasms, aliens, a frozen dead guy, and a cow named Helen. What she finds is an unexpected, hippie dippy awareness of who she really is. Of who we all are.

Download or read book Be A No Bullsh t Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by Simply Being Yourself written by Jessica Zweig and published by Sounds True. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Build your confidence, increase your value, and make a lasting impact—a brand authenticity expert shares her most powerful secrets. Everyone in marketing is talking “authenticity.” Which means making a personal or professional brand should be simpler than ever, right? What could be easier than “being yourself”? Simple? Sure. But easy? Not so much. Why? Because authenticity is unfiltered, unapologetic, and honest. Authenticity owns its imperfections and takes responsibility for mistakes. It shows up on the good and bad days. In short, authenticity feels scary. No wonder we try to brand ourselves as someone else we think will be more appealing than our real selves. Jessica Zweig founded the SimplyBe. agency to revolutionize an authenticity-first approach to branding. With Be: A No-Bullsh*t Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by Simply Being Yourself, she shares her most powerful secrets for building authenticity, service, and real connection into your winning brand. “I’m opening up the freakin’ vault to SimplyBe.’s best-in-class, trademarked methodologies, tools, and frameworks for clearing away everything that’s keeping the real you from shining through,” she says, including: Branding Reinvented—Forget the hacks and tricks, it’s time to learn what personal branding is really about. Embracing Your Sh*t—All that stuff you think you need to hide? That’s actually your most important resource! Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe—Learn to magnetize the people who most want to support you (and they’re out there). Your Personal Brand Hologram®—SimplyBe.’s universal framework can crystallize your utterly unique brand platform. The SupernovaTM—Create winning content with the secret sauce of consistency and clarity. The Pinnacle Content FrameworkTM—Take the stress out of strategy and find the most direct, effective path toward your goals. Getting Social Media Right—Stop chasing trends and learn the 10 sustainable, evergreen principles for online connection. Living Your Brand—Take your authentic personal brand where it matters most: offline and into your relationships, your workplace, and the way you show up in the world. “We are living at an inflection point,” says Jessica Zweig. “For any brand—business or personal—the game is no longer about eyeballs, but engagement. No longer about impressions, but impact. Content is no longer king, clarity is. Your best strategy? Service and generosity. Your best solution? Authenticity.” Here is a powerful guide for connecting with others, changing lives, and moving the world forward as only you can.

Download or read book Summary of Carl T Bergstrom Jevin D West s Calling Bullshit written by Everest Media, and published by Everest Media LLC. This book was released on 2022-03-27T22:59:00Z with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Bullshit is not a modern invention. It has its origins in deception, which is not a new phenomenon. Animals have been deceiving one another for hundreds of millions of years. #2 The marine crustacean mantis shrimp is a good example of how bullshit is not very sophisticated. They have to molt to replace their hammer claws, which are hard and protected by a shell, but they are still vulnerable during that time. #3 The bullshitting behavior of ravens is similar to that of humans on the Internet. They do not have a theory of mind, but they do understand the effect their actions have on others. They are cautious about caching their food in view of other birds. #4 Humans have a theory of mind, which allows us to understand how others will interpret our actions. This allows us to use communication to manipulate others, which is why there is so much bullshit in the world.

Download or read book The Life Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit written by John V. Petrocelli and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Expanding upon his viral TEDx Talk, psychology professor and social scientist John V. Petrocelli reveals the critical thinking habits you can develop to recognize and combat pervasive false information that harms society in The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit. Bullshit is the foundation of contaminated thinking and bad decisions leading to health consequences, financial losses, legal consequences, broken relationships, and wasted time and resources. No matter how smart we believe ourselves to be, we’re all susceptible to bullshit—and we all engage in it. While we may brush it off as harmless marketing sales speak or as humorous, embellished claims, it’s actually much more dangerous and insidious. It’s how Bernie Madoff successfully swindled billions of dollars from even the most experienced financial experts with his Ponzi scheme. It’s how the protocols of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward resulted in the deaths of 36 million people from starvation. Presented as truths by authority figures and credentialed experts, bullshit appears legitimate, and we accept their words as gospel. If we don’t question the information we receive from bullshit artists to prove their thoughts and theories, we allow these falsehoods to take root in our memories and beliefs. This faulty data affects our decision making capabilities, sometimes resulting in regrettable life choices. But with a little dose of skepticism and a commitment to truth seeking, you can build your critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills to evaluate information, separate fact from fiction, and see through bullshitter spin. In The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit, experimental social psychologist John V. Petrocelli provides invaluable strategies not only to recognize and protect yourself from everyday bullshit, but to accept your own lack of knowledge about subjects and avoid in engaging in bullshit just for societal conformity. With real world examples from people versed in bullshit who work in the used car, real estate, wine, and diamond industries, Petrocelli exposes the red-flag warning signs found in the anecdotal stories, emotional language, and buzzwords used by bullshitters that persuade our decisions. By using his critical thinking defensive tactics against those motivated by profit, we will also learn how to stop the toxic misinformation spread from the social media influencers, fake news, and op-eds that permeate our culture and call out bullshit whenever we see it.

Download or read book On Truth written by Harry Frankfurt and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2006-10-31 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Having outlined a theory of bullshit and falsehood, Harry G. Frankfurt turns to what lies beyond them: the truth, a concept not as obvious as some might expect.Our culture's devotion to bullshit may seem much stronger than our apparently halfhearted attachment to truth. Some people (professional thinkers) won't even acknowledge "true" and "false" as meaningful categories, and even those who claim to love truth cause the rest of us to wonder whether they, too, aren't simply full of it. Practically speaking, many of us deploy the truth only when absolutely necessary, often finding alternatives to be more saleable, and yet somehow civilization seems to be muddling along. But where are we headed? Is our fast and easy way with the facts actually crippling us? Or is it "all good"? Really, what's the use of truth, anyway?With the same leavening wit and commonsense wisdom that animates his pathbreaking work On Bullshit, Frankfurt encourages us to take another look at the truth: there may be something there that is perhaps too plain to notice but for which we have a mostly unacknowledged yet deep-seated passion. His book will have sentient beings across America asking, "The truth—why didn't I think of that?"

Download or read book A Brief History of Bullshit in America written by Dr. Brandon Day and published by New Horizons Publishing . This book was released on 2023-02-12 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From coffee enemas to religious cults to Barrack Obama and Donald Trump, this book is total bullshit! A book every young person should read. It fosters freethinking, healthy skepticism, and it reminds us that we shouldn't easily accept everything we hear as truth. A Brief History of Bullshit in America is a funny and easy to read book that examines the bullshit obsessed "post-truth era" of today and how we got here. It is filled with information, misinformation, disinformation, and any other sort of bullshit you can think of. If you consider yourself to be connoisseur of good bullshit, then you will love this book! Bullshit can be so many things. It could be anything from a degree in Gender Studies to something simple as a three-word campaign slogan, or even something as complicated as our nation’s 6,550-page tax code. Political speeches, self-help books, marketing, press conferences, tax code, song lyrics, conspiracy theories, many college majors, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the multi-billion-dollar diet industry, medicine, and even the Constitution of the United States itself are all some form of bullshit in one way or another. Bullshit is everywhere all around us. It influences the clothes we wear, shapes our political views, and even determines what food we eat. This book will examine some of the greatest bullshitters of all time and celebrate their accomplishments. Bullshitters are beautiful highly intelligent individuals, and they play a vital role in our world. They start almost all of our wars, make our drugs, sell us our cars, raise and lower our taxes, regulate our economy, they tell us what to wear, and in many instances what to believe. This book will also give you some basic bullshit strategies that you can use in your own life as well.

Download or read book Your Call Is Important To Us written by Laura Penny and published by McClelland & Stewart. This book was released on 2009-03-13 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever been left spluttering over some fatuous fib trying to pass itself off as information, even as fact? Of course you have. We all have. It's bullshit, and as Laura Penny sees it, we're drowning in the stuff. Your Call Is Important to Us is Penny's brilliant take on the "all-you-can-eat buffet of phoniness" that is our lives today. "We live in an era of unprecedented bullshit production," Penny says. While bullshit is not new, more money, more media, and more people at mics have led to a bullshit pandemic. Today, we are so used to exaggeration and obfuscation we rarely notice them any more.Thank goodness we have Penny as our witty, smart-aleck guide through the phoniness of advertising and public relations, the claptrap of big pharma, the gobbledygook of the media, and the poppycock of the service industry. Along the way, Penny takes direct aim at the major culprits and the insidious ways they distort reality. As scathing as Michael Moore, as incisive as Naomi Klein, and as funny as Al Franken, Penny's take on the bullshit factor in modern life is a page-turner. Penny has a cheeky riff on that revealing question: "If my call is so important," she asks, "why doesn't anyone answer the damn phone?"

Download or read book Blissfully Blended Bullshit written by Rebecca Eckler and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2019-05-25 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rebecca Eckler’s newest book chronicles the hard truth of what it’s really like to make a blended family. Blissfully Blended Bullshit is a witty, engaging, refreshingly candid chronicle of a modern family’s journey as they blend households. We follow Eckler as her partner and his two children move in with her and her daughter. Then, thanks to a reverse vasectomy, they add a baby to the mix. Readers go along for the ride in this poignant, often hilarious tale, as everyone attempts to navigate their new roles: the children, the in-laws, the exes, the ex-in-laws, and even the dog. Lighthearted and intimate, this is an indispensable story about a family determined to make blended splendid, and the juicy truth of what it’s really like behind closed doors in what is rapidly becoming a typical family makeup. Still, if Eckler had to blend again, would she?

Download or read book Assholes written by Aaron James and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spirit of the mega-selling On Bullshit, philosopher Aaron James presents a theory of the asshole that is both intellectually provocative and existentially necessary. What does it mean for someone to be an asshole? The answer is not obvious, despite the fact that we are often personally stuck dealing with people for whom there is no better name. Try as we might to avoid them, assholes are found everywhere—at work, at home, on the road, and in the public sphere. Encountering one causes great difficulty and personal strain, especially because we often cannot understand why exactly someone should be acting like that. Asshole management begins with asshole understanding. Much as Machiavelli illuminated political strategy for princes, this book finally gives us the concepts to think or say why assholes disturb us so, and explains why such people seem part of the human social condition, especially in an age of raging narcissism and unbridled capitalism. These concepts are also practically useful, as understanding the asshole we are stuck with helps us think constructively about how to handle problems he (and they are mostly all men) presents. We get a better sense of when the asshole is best resisted, and when he is best ignored—a better sense of what is, and what is not, worth fighting for.

Download or read book The Casual Vacancy written by J. K. Rowling and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2012-09-27 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A big novel about a small town... When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations? A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.