December 16, 2015

On The Reception And Detection Of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit

aabullshitdetect.gif

Abstract:
Although bullshit is common in everyday life and has attracted attention from philosophers, its reception (critical or ingenuous) has not, to our knowledge, been subject to empirical investigation.

Here we focus on pseudo-profound bullshit, which consists of seemingly impressive assertions that are presented as true and meaningful but are actually vacuous.

We presented participants with bullshit statements consisting of buzzwords randomly organized into statements with syntactic structure but no discernible meaning (e.g., “Wholeness quiets infinite phenomena”).

Across multiple studies, the propensity to judge bullshit statements as profound was associated with a variety of conceptually relevant variables (e.g., intuitive cognitive style, supernatural belief). Parallel associations were less evident among profundity judgments for more conventionally profound (e.g., “A wet person does not fear the rain”) or mundane (e.g., “Newborn babies require constant attention”) statements.

These results support the idea that some people are more receptive to this type of bullshit and that detecting it is not merely a matter of indiscriminate skepticism but rather a discernment of deceptive vagueness in otherwise impressive sounding claims. Our results also suggest that a bias toward accepting statements as true may be an important component of pseudo-profound bullshit receptivity. ..... Full Paper On The Reception And Detection Of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit - ValueWalk

Posted by gerardvanderleun at December 16, 2015 10:37 PM
Bookmark and Share

Comments:

HOME

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

That whole article was a crock.

Posted by: ghostsniper at December 17, 2015 4:46 AM

The dimension of value in whatever we apprehend, in objects whether concrete or abstract is beyond the mere factual, that which is available to our five senses. If you want the truth of something you have to consider the "thing-in-itself". Realize we never touch anything, see anything, etc. We "see" what our senses Represent. When we do see the transcendence at the heart of the "thing-in-itself" our perception goes right through the phenomenal to Truth or Beauty itself. So, if you can't bring it doesn't actually mean what you "see" is BS, necessarily. It might mean you are stuck in the material. Examples abound in religion: "I am the Truth, the Life, the Way...No man cometh to the Father but by me."

Posted by: John Hinds at December 17, 2015 5:48 AM