====== Bullshit ======

Originally a type of social game, today it is primarily used as a collective term for various manipulative rhetorical techniques in which the focus is not on finding the truth but on distracting from the topic of the discussion.

===== Other names =====

  * Malarkey
  * Bunkum
  * Humbug

===== Description =====

The English term “bullshit” is often understood (and probably also used) as simple //profanity//. However, the term has a long history that should be known to understand the underlying concept: 

Originally, the expression “shitting the bull” was a colloquial term for an activity that today we would just as casually describe as “hanging out with friends”. This included the exchange of gossip and a social game that consisted of sprinkling in nonsensical stories. If such a story was recognised as a fabrication, it was then called out as “bullshit”.

From here it is not far to our modern understanding, in which this term refers to the dissemination of misinformation (<span maniculus "for more information, please see:">[[rhetoric:unfair_discussion_tactics:confusion_tactics:alternative_facts|alternative facts]]</span>) or various other rhetorical [[rhetoric:unfair_discussion_tactics:confusion tactics:index|confusion tactic]]. 

The importance of the concept for a better understanding of certain phenomena in our modern society was recognised above all thanks to [[wp>Harry Frankfurt|Harry Frankfurt]]’s essay “[[wp>On Bullshit|On Bullshit]]” (1986). This concept can also be applied to areas other than communication, for example the term “bullshit jobs” (based on a book by [[wp>David Graeber|David Graeber]]) describes work that provides no added value to society and is perceived as “useless” even by those carrying it out.

===== See also =====

  * [[glossary:brandolinis_law|Brandolini’s Law]]
  * [[glossary:cargo_cult|Cargo cult]]
  * [[rhetoric:unfair_discussion_tactics:confusion tactics:index|Rhetorical confusion tactics]]
    * [[rhetoric:unfair_discussion_tactics:confusion_tactics:alternative_facts|Alternative facts]]
    * [[rhetoric:gish-galopp|Gish-Galopp]]

===== More information =====

  * [[archive>details/importanceofwhat00harr/page/117/mode/2up|On Bullshit]]; Frankfurt, Harry G., 1988, Cambridge University Press (//Internet Archive//)

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===== More information =====

  * [[archive>details/importanceofwhat00harr/page/117/mode/2up|On Bullshit]]; Frankfurt, Harry G., 1988, Cambridge University Press (//Internet Archive//)

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