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 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 Bullshit written by Mark Peters Phd and published by Crown. This book was released on 2015-10-27 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An irreverent lexicon of the seemingly infinite ways we call bullshit, written by a McSweeney's columnist and etymologist, illustrated by a New Yorker-contributing cartoonist. What's the difference between "balderdash" and "drivel"? Where did "mumbo-jumbo" come from? How should you use "meadow mayonnaise"? What's "felgercarb" and which popular TV show coined it? There are hundreds of common and rare terms for bullshit in English, including borrowings from German, turn-of-the-century sailors, The Simpsons, and beyond. Bullshit is everywhere, but not all of it is created equal. Mark Peters's Bullshit: A Lexicon is the handy guide to identifying and calling BS in all of its many forms, from "bunk" and "claptrap" to "applesauce" and "gobbledygook." Packed with historical facts, pop culture tidbits, and definitions for each term, Bullshit is perfect for humor readers, language lovers, and anyone looking to describe life's everyday annoyances.

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 Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit written by Malcolm Harris and published by Melville House. This book was released on 2020-02-25 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the writer hailed for giving voice to a generation in Kids These Days comes a bold rejection of a society in which inequality, police violence, and exploitation have come to define our lives In these new and selected pieces, Malcolm Harris, one of our sharpest and most versatile critics, examines everything from the lowering of wages to the rise of fascism—and the maddening cultural landscape in between. Along the way, he explores protest strategies past and present; questions the wrong (and often racist) lessons we’ve learned from American history; and, most comfortingly, assures us that Marx saw the necessity of a crisis moment just like the one we're in. Rarely does a writer come along who can turn our world so thoroughly upside down that we can finally understand it for what it really is, but Harris's wry and biting essays do just that, and help us laugh at what we see. Our economic situation, political discourse, and future prospects have gotten much worse since a guy brought a sign that said "Shit is Fucked Up and Bullshit" to the Occupy Wall Street protests. We all knew what he meant then . . . but where are we now? And how has so much happened since the so-called end of history? The over thirty pieces collected here offer compelling answers to these questions and more.

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 The Book of Bullshit written by Spencer Gold and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

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 Emotional Bullshit written by Carl Alasko Ph. D. and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-12-26 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An invisible disease is affecting every aspect of your life. Insidious and creeping, it shapes you everyday – from the bedroom to the boardroom, from your shopping splurge, to the extra helping at your holiday dinner, to the dangerous liaison at work. It’s called emotional bullshit, and it’s encroaching on your happiness. In Emotional Bullshit: The Hidden Plague That Is Threatening to Destroy Your Relationships – AND HOW TO STOP IT , Carl Alasko, Ph.D. sheds light on the stealth disease of Emotional BS: that is, the Toxic Trio of denial, delusion and blame that we fall back on when faced with difficult situations. These three dynamics work together to distort and manipulate truth, create a delusional reality, and shift blame when things fall apart. With the toxic trio in action, it’s all but impossible to get at the heart of the problem. The result, however, is obvious – no one can achieve happiness and fulfillment. And when used in the world of business, Emotional BS can lead to financial ruin. In his over twenty years working with individuals, couples and families as a psychotherapist, Dr. Alasko has come to recognize the same problem underlying all his patients’ unhappiness. When confronted with an unpleasant or inconvenient reality, they fall prey to the TOXIC TRIO: DENIAL: “My girlfriend enjoys a ‘good time’ at parties, sure. But she doesn’t have a drinking problem.” Decoded: There is no problem. Everything is okay. You’re exaggerating See: the drinker, the overweight, the wallet full of maxed-out credit cards (pg 12) DELUSION: “Working late isn’t a problem. My family will understand when I get that big promotion.” Decoded: I’ll tell you what’s true. Don’t believe what you see – believe me. See: the demanding boss, the neglected partner, the alienated friend (pgs 63, 138) BLAME: “She knew I hated sloppiness when she married me. Why can’t she pick up after herself?” Decoded: You’re the problem. I was forced to do it; I had no choice. See: the clean freak, sub-prime mortgages, Napoleon Bonaparte (pgs 45, 84) When the Toxic Trio works together, we become stuck in a cycle of emotional BS, preventing us from moving on or learning from our mistakes. Emotional bullshit’s pervasiveness in society can be found everywhere, from rising divorce rates, weight gain, and debt, to angry outbursts at work, loss of control over our children, and a lack of fulfillment in our lives. The solution is deceptively simple: You focus on your Core Needs, which is any behavior that advances your long-term best interest, and ask yourself the Master Question—“What do I need from this situation?”. Honestly addressing the larger issue – not just in the short term – cuts the BS in every relationship: between friends, co-workers, couples, in parenting and especially in business. Frank, concise and unapologetic, EMOTIONAL BULLSHIT sheds light on this hidden plague, and provides concrete advice to keep it from infiltrating your relationships.

Download or read book Business Bullshit written by André Spicer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our organizations are flooded with empty talk. We are constantly "going forward" to lands of "deliverables", stopping off on the "journey" to "drill down" into "best practice". Being an expert at using management speak has become more important in corporate life than delivering long lasting results. The upshot is that meaningless corporate jargon is killing our organizations. In this book, management scholar the author argues we need to call this empty talk what it is: bullshit. The book looks at how organizations have become vast machines for manufacturing, distributing and consuming bullshit. It follows how the meaningless language of management has spread through schools, NGOs, politics and the media. Business Bullshit shows you how to spot business bullshit, considers why it is so popular, and outlines the impact it has on organizations and the people who work there. It also outlines what we can do to minimise bullshit at work. The author makes a case for why organizations need to avoid empty talk and reconnect with core activities.

Download or read book Useful Bullshit written by Neil J. Diamant and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2022-01-15 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Useful Bullshit Neil J. Diamant pulls back the curtain on early constitutional conversations between citizens and officials in the PRC. Scholars have argued that China, like the former USSR, promulgated constitutions to enhance its domestic and international legitimacy by opening up the constitution-making process to ordinary people, and by granting its citizens political and socioeconomic rights. But what did ordinary officials and people say about their constitutions and rights? Did constitutions contribute to state legitimacy? Over the course of four decades, the PRC government encouraged millions of citizens to pose questions about, and suggest revisions to, the draft of a new constitution. Seizing this opportunity, people asked both straightforward questions like "what is a state?", but also others that, through implication, harshly criticized the document and the government that sponsored it. They pressed officials to clarify the meaning of words, phrases, and ideas in the constitution, proposing numerous revisions. Despite many considering the document "bullshit," successive PRC governments have promulgated it, amending the constitution, debating it at length, and even inaugurating a "Constitution Day." Drawing upon a wealth of archival sources from the Maoist and reform eras, Diamant deals with all facets of this constitutional discussion, as well as its afterlives in the late '50s, the Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao era. Useful Bullshit illuminates how the Chinese government understands and makes use of the constitution as a political document, and how a vast array of citizens—police, workers, university students, women, and members of different ethnic and religious groups—have responded.

Download or read book Believing Bullshit written by Stephen Law and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book identifies eight key mechanisms that can transform a set of ideas into a psychological flytrap. The author suggests that, like the black holes of outer space, from which nothing, not even light, can escape, our contemporary cultural landscape contains numerous intellectual black-holes—belief systems constructed in such a way that unwary passers-by can similarly find themselves drawn in. While such self-sealing bubbles of belief will most easily trap the gullible or poorly educated, even the most intelligent and educated of us are potentially vulnerable. Some of the world’s greatest thinkers have fallen in, never to escape. This witty, insightful critique will help immunize readers against the wiles of cultists, religious and political zealots, conspiracy theorists, promoters of flaky alternative medicines, and others by clearly setting out the tricks of the trade by which such insidious belief systems are created and maintained.

Download or read book The Business Bullshit Book written by Kevin Duncan and published by Lid Publishing. This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Best-selling author Kevin Duncan presents the world's most comprehensive collection of total bullshit, diligently collected over 35 years. His incisive take on all this boardroom nonsense lifts the lid on the truth behind business vocabulary, and tells us what people are really trying to say."--Back cover.

Download or read book Writing Without Bullshit written by Josh Bernoff and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joining the ranks of classics like The Elements of Style and On Writing Well, Writing Without Bullshit helps professionals get to the point to get ahead. It’s time for Writing Without Bullshit. Writing Without Bullshit is the first comprehensive guide to writing for today’s world: a noisy environment where everyone reads what you write on a screen. The average news story now gets only 36 seconds of attention. Unless you change how you write, your emails, reports, and Web copy don’t stand a chance. In this practical and witty book, you’ll learn to front-load your writing with pithy titles, subject lines, and opening sentences. You’ll acquire the courage and skill to purge weak and meaningless jargon, wimpy passive voice, and cowardly weasel words. And you’ll get used to writing directly to the reader to make every word count. At the center of it all is the Iron Imperative: treat the reader’s time as more valuable than your own. Embrace that, and your customers, your boss, and your colleagues will recognize the power and boldness of your thinking. Transcend the fear that makes your writing weak. Plan and execute writing projects with confidence. Manage edits and reviews flawlessly. And master every modern format from emails and social media to reports and press releases. Stop writing to fit in. Start writing to stand out. Boost your career by writing without bullshit.

Download or read book No Bullsh t Leadership written by Chris Hirst and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2019-05-02 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020: LEADERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE A Financial Times Business Book of the Month 'A brilliant set of leadership tools that will help you succeed whatever your goal' - Sir Clive Woodward 'A punchy, plainly written guide, offering a readable and enlightened view of what leaders do and how they should do it' - Financial Times 'A new rubric on leadership' - Evening Standard Inspiration behind the No Bullsh*t Leadership Intelligence Squared podcast Leadership is not some special club, open only to elites. It's not a gold star given only to those with expensive degrees. Leadership is for everyone. Based on the author's hard-won experience as a Global CEO, this smart, fun book delivers a step-by-step working manual on how to lead - for anyone. Full of simple and direct approaches, it demystifies an over-analysed subject to get to the heart of modern leadership: the life-changing, career-transforming power to get stuff done. These principles and actionable steps apply to every field, from small businesses to community initiatives, from schools to sports teams to global enterprises. No matter your goal, this book will show you how to: - make effective decisions - build a world-class team - take care of yourself and others - achieve results

Download or read book Balance Is Bullshit written by Alicia McKenzie and published by . This book was released on 2022-05-24 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Balance is Bullshit combines the advice of an expert, the exercises of a workbook, and the writing prompts of a journal into a program that will help you combine four major aspects of life: physical health, mental health, financial health, and social responsibility. Although we strive to balance these four parts of our lives, the stresses of everyday life interfere and keep us in a constant state of inadequacy because we can't seem to be great at everything at the same time. Alicia McKenzie--athlete, personal trainer, businessperson, wife, and mother of five--knows all too well how hard it can be to keep moving forward, so she developed this four-pronged approach that will help you schedule your time more efficiently while still getting moving toward your goals. She reveals how moving your body, developing your mind, managing your money, and giving back to the community are vital to your everyday wellness and overall happiness. The book starts with advice on creating routines to start and finish your day and using time blocking as a way to efficiently schedule your precious time. The following chapters detail each pillar of the program starting with physical wellness. Readers can use the prompts to begin writing on the journaling pages at the back of the book and a weekly schedule lets them note when they accomplish the assigned goals. Each section assigns exercises and assignments to complete that can be as small as making your bed every day to running one mile every day for a month. With its holistic approach to wellness, Balance is Bullshit is for anyone looking to eliminate the chaos in their lives and achieve more balance, productivity, and joy.