Bullshit. What is it? It’s not necessarily a lie, because the person spewing it isn’t necessarily trying to deceive those who are listening to them. The 'bull shitter', as Harry Frankfurt, a professor at Princeton University, puts it, is ambivalent toward the truth. He’s only trying to get us to do what he’s trying to get us to do.
Take “The Onion” for example. It’s a website full of satire, cleverly masked as well written news articles. They don’t call themselves “America’s Finest News Source” for no reason. News can often be boring. Who really wants to read about actual current events, health, and celebrities every single day? The stories are always the same. So, the Onion puts a twist on the news, adding a bunch of bullshit to stories everyone knows. (Yes, we realize they just do it to be funny.)
Take this article on breakfast ("Experts Say Breakfast Now Sixth Most Important Meal Of The Day" is the title. The Onion won't allow a link to it.) They say that breakfast is not as important as everyone had been led to believe. However, it’s been proven that breakfast can make or break a day. The energy consumed right at the beginning of the day is the most important. Anyway, these bullshitters have it all wrong. Midnight snack is nowhere near as important as elevensies and luncheon. Especially not afternoon tea.
The Onion is an interesting example because it is self-consious bullshit. It over-hypes, hyperbolizes, and just flat lies as a way of making fun of the ways in which the "real" news does these same things in supposedly serious contexts. Take a look at this example from our local (OKC)Fox station. How does this actual newscast over-hype or dramatize the situation? Does this real-life report contain bullshit? The fact that I bring it up is probably a clue that I think so. Do others agree? Why or why not?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.okcfox.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kokh_vid_2104.shtml
I think it does. They don't know if he's gone to the strip club for years or just a few times. What if that stripper was the one he focused on the last time he was here, and didn't necessarily fall in love with her and all the other stuff they were saying?
ReplyDeleteI think it's bull shit they're over hyping it and dramatizing it so much because they want to make a huge scandal that everyone would want to watch, so they get more viewers, and in that, more money.