4 ms·

A six-year old could tell the five-year old they're being naive, and that adults using buzzwords like "sharing economy" aren't worried about accuracy.

by jpttsn 9y ago

anigbrowl 9y ago
That's the problem, isn't it? Deep down, people dislike bullshit* and tolerating it as a normal mode of discourse is toxic to the health of a society. * http://www.csudh.edu/ccauthen/576f12/frankfurt__harry_-_on_bullshit.pdf http://www.csudh.edu/ccauthen/576f12/frankfurt__harry_-_on_b...
- jpttsn 9y ago
  I think that ship has sailed. Society as we know it is built on bullshit. Evaluating its health by comparing against an imagined non-bullshit-based society seems unproductive. Why presuppose that this alternative society is feasible/possible let alone better on the whole?
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    The whole body of contract law stands in contradiction of your assertion. We also privilege facts and verifiable events in history and science, notwithstanding the existence of bullshit. I don't share your fatalistic view, not least because any undertaking whatsoever could theoretically be dismissed with the more-or-less similar argument of 'well we're all going to die, so what's the point?' I agree with you that much of society is based on based on bullshit, but not that it's pointless to do anything about it. I used to smoke cigarettes but gave them up because they were making me feel bad. While I have most likely shorten my life by the time I did spend smoking and won't be able to recover that lost time, I still cared enough about the quality of life that was available to not want to shorten it further. Likewise, insofar as bullshit deems to be destructive of trust and social relations, I'm arguing that we would be better off with less of it.
    - jpttsn 9y ago
      I don't believe society is based on bullshit alone; there's just a lot of bullshit in the mix. I suspect a society without bullshit is not as simple as it sounds. Seems we would have to somehow get by without a lot of things ranging from white lies to political and religious beliefs.
sluggg 9y ago
A seven-year old could tell the six-year old that buzzwords, and words in general for that matter, don't have a fixed definition. The English language is constantly evolving.

A six-year old could tell the five-year old they're being naive, and that adults using buzzwords like "sharing economy" aren't worried about accuracy.

by jpttsn 9y ago

A six-year old could tell the five-year old they're being naive, and that adults using buzzwords like "sharing economy" aren't worried about accuracy.

anigbrowl 9y ago

That's the problem, isn't it? Deep down, people dislike bullshit* and tolerating it as a normal mode of discourse is toxic to the health of a society. * http://www.csudh.edu/ccauthen/576f12/frankfurt__harry_-_on_bullshit.pdf http://www.csudh.edu/ccauthen/576f12/frankfurt__harry_-_on_b...

jpttsn 9y ago
I think that ship has sailed. Society as we know it is built on bullshit. Evaluating its health by comparing against an imagined non-bullshit-based society seems unproductive. Why presuppose that this alternative society is feasible/possible let alone better on the whole?
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  The whole body of contract law stands in contradiction of your assertion. We also privilege facts and verifiable events in history and science, notwithstanding the existence of bullshit. I don't share your fatalistic view, not least because any undertaking whatsoever could theoretically be dismissed with the more-or-less similar argument of 'well we're all going to die, so what's the point?' I agree with you that much of society is based on based on bullshit, but not that it's pointless to do anything about it. I used to smoke cigarettes but gave them up because they were making me feel bad. While I have most likely shorten my life by the time I did spend smoking and won't be able to recover that lost time, I still cared enough about the quality of life that was available to not want to shorten it further. Likewise, insofar as bullshit deems to be destructive of trust and social relations, I'm arguing that we would be better off with less of it.
  - jpttsn 9y ago
    I don't believe society is based on bullshit alone; there's just a lot of bullshit in the mix. I suspect a society without bullshit is not as simple as it sounds. Seems we would have to somehow get by without a lot of things ranging from white lies to political and religious beliefs.

sluggg 9y ago

A seven-year old could tell the six-year old that buzzwords, and words in general for that matter, don't have a fixed definition. The English language is constantly evolving.