Sunday, December 06, 2015

(Bull)shit happens

Somewhat against the odds, "bullshit" appears to be a fashionable buzzword in academic circles currently.  Not only is it popular with David Graeber, it's also now central to the work of a group of researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada, who have found that "those who are receptive to pseudo-profound, intellectual-sounding 'bullshit' are less intelligent, less reflective, and more likely to be believe in conspiracy theories, the paranormal and alternative medicine". In other words, if you look down on people who share Deepak Chopra quotes set against landscape photography on Facebook, then you're entirely justified in doing so.

(Thanks to Matt for the link.)

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