How to become better at smelling and avoiding the many varieties of bullshit

How strong is your bullshit detector? And what exactly IS the scientific definition of bullshit?

In this episode we explore both of those concepts as well as what makes a person susceptible to bullshit, how to identify and defend against it, and what kind of people are the most and least likely to be bowled over by bullshit artists and other merchants of feel-good woo.

You’ll hear how Gordon Pennycook and his team at the University of Waterloo set out to discover if there was a spectrum of receptivity for a certain kind of humbug they call pseudo-profound bullshit – the kind that sounds deep and meaningful at first glance, but upon closer inspection means nothing at all. They wondered, is there a “type” of person who is more susceptible to that kind of language, and if so, what other things about personalities and thinking styles correlate with that tolerance and lack of skepticism, and why?

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In every episode, after I read a bit of self delusion news, I taste a cookie baked from a recipe sent in by a listener/reader. That listener/reader wins a signed copy of my new book, You Are Now Less Dumb, and I post the recipe on the YANSS Pinterest page. This episodes winner is Nick Dahlstrom who submitted a recipe for lemon ricotta cookies. Send your own recipes to david {at} youarenotsosmart.com.

Links and Sources

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Previous Episodes

Boing Boing Podcasts

Cookie Recipes

The New Age Bullshit Generator

On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt

Gordon Pennycook

On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit

Cognitive Reflection Test

Big Think Article on Cognitive Reflection

Barbara Drescher’s ICBSEverywhere.com

WisdomOfChopra.com

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons – Stier by Beno Adams