Bullshit

A discussion of the better things in life, including music, the arts, wine, beer, cigars, scotch, gambling the Quatloosian way, travel, sports, and many other topics. [Political and religious discussions and the like should stay off-site.]
Lambkin
Warder of the Quatloosian Gibbet
Posts: 1206
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:43 pm

Bullshit

Post by Lambkin »

I loved this article on people who believe bullshit. I'm not sure exactly which Q forum is most appropriate but it seems clearly topical. The science shows that people who believe bullshit are stupid.

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/12/wh ... sense.html
In a recent study in Judgment and Decision Making, a team led by Gordon Pennycook, a Ph.D. student in psychology at the University of Waterloo, dug into (sorry) one particularly common type of bullshit: “pseudo-profound bullshit,” or “seemingly impressive assertions that are presented as true and meaningful but are actually vacuous.”
Summarizing the results, Pennycook, et al., write that “[people] more receptive to bullshit are less reflective, lower in cognitive ability (i.e., verbal and fluid intelligence, numeracy), are more prone to … conspiratorial ideation, are more likely to hold religious and paranormal beliefs, and are more likely to endorse complementary and alternative medicine.”

This makes some degree of intuitive sense — to the extent all these characteristics can be swept under the same umbrella, that umbrella would be marked “not very skeptical.”
notorial dissent
A Balthazar of Quatloosian Truth
Posts: 13806
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:17 pm

Re: Bullshit

Post by notorial dissent »

So, in other words they have absent or defective bullshit detectors.
The fact that you sincerely and wholeheartedly believe that the “Law of Gravity” is unconstitutional and a violation of your sovereign rights, does not absolve you of adherence to it.
Chaos
Admiral of the Quatloosian Seas
Admiral of the Quatloosian Seas
Posts: 993
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2015 8:53 pm

Re: Bullshit

Post by Chaos »

are we to believe this? (wacky right?)
Lambkin
Warder of the Quatloosian Gibbet
Posts: 1206
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:43 pm

Re: Bullshit

Post by Lambkin »

Another timely piece of a similar nature:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the ... al-column/
Walter Quattrociocchi, the head of the Laboratory of Computational Social Science at IMT Lucca in Italy, has spent several years studying how conspiracy theories and misinformation spread online, and he confirmed some of my fears: Essentially, he explained, institutional distrust is so high right now, and cognitive bias so strong always, that the people who fall for hoax news stories are frequently only interested in consuming information that conforms with their views — even when it’s demonstrably fake.
bmxninja357
Admiral of the Quatloosian Seas
Admiral of the Quatloosian Seas
Posts: 1108
Joined: Wed May 07, 2014 6:46 am

Re: Bullshit

Post by bmxninja357 »

this ones fun if your into seeing how folks are duped on the daily....

http://io9.gizmodo.com/i-fooled-million ... 1707251800

peace,
ninj
whoever said laughter is the best medicine never had gonorrhea....