The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published July 27, 2021 by St. Martin's Press.

ISBN:
9781250271624

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5 stars (1 review)

Bullshit is the foundation of contaminated thinking and bad decisions that leads to health consequences, financial losses, legal consequences, broken relationships, and wasted time and resources.

No matter how smart we believe ourselves to be, we’re all susceptible to bullshit―and we all engage in it. While we may brush it off as harmless marketing sales speak or as humorous, embellished claims, it’s actually much more dangerous and insidious. It’s how Bernie Madoff successfully swindled billions of dollars from even the most experienced financial experts with his Ponzi scheme. It’s how the protocols of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward resulted in the deaths of 36 million people from starvation. Presented as truths by authority figures and credentialed experts, bullshit appears legitimate, and we accept their words as gospel. If we don’t question the information we receive from bullshit artists to prove their thoughts and theories, we allow these falsehoods to take …

4 editions

Critical Thinking 101

5 stars

We've all encountered bullshit and with this book, Petrocelli provides a very readable overview of what it his, why we tolerate far too much of it, some of the effects it can have and how we can counter it.

In doing so, he also provides a much needed reminder of the importance of critical thinking.

Even the appendix is worth a read.