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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

It's Good to Have a Bullshit Detection Kit


In an article I recently read on disinfo.com, which explored the possibility of Charles Manson being a Zen Master, I found this reader's comment in response to it exceptionally enlightening:

Buddhist koans challenge conventional wisdom in order to expand our insight into the human condition.

Sociopaths do it to avoid responsibility and--maybe more importantly--establish Alpha male dominance over others by confounding them with bullsh*t.

I thought that was very interesting, and the second sentence in particular is a really good observation that could also be applied, not just to sociopaths, but potentially to anyone using cryptic language, or who is overly vague and non-specific; as if speaking in riddles and koans is the hallmark of wisdom, but in actuality the person could just be confounding you with their bullshit, being intentionally obscure because it adds to their guru mystique, making them appear wiser than they actually are.

The less you say, the more you may appear to know. The more you say, the less you may appear to know. That's because if you are specific, any errors in your thinking will be more visible to detection. And if you are vague, there is less to refute.

What better way to avoid answering a question then to claim "there is no answer," especially if presented with an aura of expounding some deep philosophical truth. It's a con man's trick, an act of subterfuge, hiding the fact that you don't know shit, but you're fronting as if you do.

Some people use mysterious language to make themselves appear wiser and more powerful than they actually are. Which is not to say that all riddles and koans are bullshit, or that there is no value in retaining an element of mystery, but just that you need to be cautious, because sometimes it's hard to know which is wisdom and which is bullshit posing as wisdom under a veil of mystery, especially if you don't know the person, have never met the person, have no way of knowing if they actually live in a wise manner and practice what they preach, or if it's just theoretical words on the screen not grounded in real experience, that sound really wise but aren't really.

In other words, just because someone looks like a Zen master, with a long beard, crazy eyes, and shit eating grin, doesn't mean they are; nor is the liberal use of riddles and koans proof of enlightenment.

This is a main reason why I stopped reading and taking seriously spiritual advice type blogs, especially those concerning Zen, Taoism, and New Age spirituality, because I have found that many of them, though not all, are written by people with wannabe guru complexes, which I find annoying, who seem to believe that because they call themselves this or that, purporting to represent a particular wisdom tradition, that anything they say, too, will be wise, and the more obscure their insights, and the more they speak in riddles and in vague non-specific generalities, the more enlightened they will appear to be.

I'm not saying this is the case with all "spiritual advice" type blogs, but I would say that it does pay to be extra cautious when dealing with anyone who communicates in an exceptionally obscure manner, because rather than communicating wisdom, it very well could just be bullshit disguised as something profound, but actually when you dig really deep you'll find that there isn't anything there of any real meaningful substance at all.

In other words, it's good to have a bullshit detection kit.

For a related post, and more information to help you build your own bullshit detection kit, please see: Fake Gurus Versus Real Gurus.

And also: The Difference Between Experience and Theory, which could have just as easily been called "The Difference Between Knowing and Believing."