I Used To Teach At

One Of The Most Salient Features Of Our Culture Is That There Is So Much Bullshit. Everyone Knows This. Each Of Us Contributes His Share. But We Tend To Take The Situation For Granted. Most People Are Rather Confident Of Their Ability To Recognize Bullshit And To Avoid Being Taken In By It. So The Phenomenon Has Not Aroused Much Deliberate Concern, Or Attracted Much Sustained Inquiry. In Consequence, We Have No Clear Understanding Of What Bullshit Is, Why There Is So Much Of It, Or What Functions It Serves.

Recognizing Truth Requires Selflessness. You Have To Leave Yourself Out Of It So You Can Find Out The Way Things Are In Themselves, Not The Way They Look To You Or How You Feel About Them Or How You Would Like Them To Be.

Bullshit Is Unavoidable When Circumstances Require Someone To Talk Without Knowing What He Is Talking About. Thus, The Production Of Bullshit Is Stimulated Whenever A Person's Obligations Or Opportunities To Speak About Some Topic Exceed His Knowledge Of The Facts That Are Relevant To That Topic. This Discrepancy Is Common In Public Life, Where People Are Frequently Impelled-whether By Their Own Propensities Or By The Demands Of Others - To Speak Extensively About Matters Of Which They Are To Some Degree Ignorant.

The Bullshitter Is Neither On The Side Of The True Or The Side Of The False. His Eye Is Not On The Facts At All. He Does Not Reject The Authority Of The Truth, As The Liar Does, And Oppose Himself To It. He Pays No Attention To It At All. By Virtue Of This, Bullshit Is A Greater Enemy Of The Truth Than Lies Are.

As A Philosopher, I'm Not Obliged To Explore Every Unknown Wilderness.