Pseudo-Grounded (Bullshit) Proposition
A Pseudo-Grounded (Bullshit) Proposition is a mostly-false proposition that is supported on weakly-grounded beliefs.
- Context:
- It can (typically) be much cheaper to produce than to refute.
- It can (often) be associated with a verity-associated behavior.
- It can (often) be supported by a Sensational Story.
- Example(s):
- an fawning Patriotic Statement.
- a Auto-Generated Text, such as by: GPT-3.
- “People lie. They use you and they lie, all the while feeding you bullshit about being loyal and never leaving you. No one can make that promise, because life is all about seasons, and seasons change.” --Tarryn Fisher
- …
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: False Proposition, Scientific Skeptical Position.
References
2020
- (Wikipedia, 2020) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bullshit Retrieved:2020-9-15.
- Bullshit (also bullshite or bullcrap) is a common English expletive which may be shortened to the euphemism bull or the initialism B.S. In British English, “bollocks” is a comparable expletive. It is mostly a slang term and a profanity which means “nonsense", especially as a rebuke in response to communication or actions viewed as deceptive, misleading, disingenuous, unfair or false. As with many expletives, the term can be used as an interjection, or as many other parts of speech, and can carry a wide variety of meanings. A person who communicates nonsense on a given subject may be referred to as a "bullshit artist".
In philosophy and psychology of cognition the term "bullshit" is sometimes used to specifically refer to statements produced without particular concern of truth, to distinguish from a deliberate, manipulative lie intended to subvert the truth.[1] In business and management, guidance for comprehending, recognizing, acting on and preventing bullshit, are proposed for stifling the production and spread of this form of misrepresentation in the workplace, media and society.
While the word is generally used in a deprecatory sense, it may imply a measure of respect for language skills or frivolity, among various other benign usages. In philosophy, Harry Frankfurt, among others, analyzed the concept of bullshit as related to, but distinct from, lying.
As an exclamation, "Bullshit!" conveys a measure of dissatisfaction with something or someone, but this usage need not be a comment on the truth of the matter.
- Bullshit (also bullshite or bullcrap) is a common English expletive which may be shortened to the euphemism bull or the initialism B.S. In British English, “bollocks” is a comparable expletive. It is mostly a slang term and a profanity which means “nonsense", especially as a rebuke in response to communication or actions viewed as deceptive, misleading, disingenuous, unfair or false. As with many expletives, the term can be used as an interjection, or as many other parts of speech, and can carry a wide variety of meanings. A person who communicates nonsense on a given subject may be referred to as a "bullshit artist".
- ↑ On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit, Gordon Pennycook, James Allan Cheyne, Nathaniel Barr, Derek J. Koehler, Jonathan A. Fugelsang, Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 10, No. 6, November 2015, pp. 549-563
2020
- Raphaël Millière. (2020). “Welcome to the Next Level of Bullshit - The language algorithm GPT-3 continues our descent into a post-truth world." In Nautilus, September 9, 2020
- QUOTE: ... “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit.” These are the opening words of the short book On Bullshit, written by the philosopher Harry Frankfurt. Fifteen years after the publication of this surprise bestseller, the rapid progress of research on artificial intelligence is forcing us to reconsider our conception of bullshit as a hallmark of human speech, with troubling implications. What do philosophical reflections on bullshit have to do with algorithms? As it turns out, quite a lot. ...
... According to Frankfurt, bullshit is speech intended to persuade without regard for truth. In that sense, there is an important difference between a liar and a bullshitter: The liar does care about the truth insofar as they want to hide it, whereas the bullshitter only cares about persuading their listener. Importantly, this does not entail that bullshitters never tell the truth; in fact, good bullshitters seamlessly weave accurate and inaccurate information together. For this very reason, as Frankfurt puts it, “Bullshit is a greater enemy of truth than lies are.”
At its core, GPT-3 is an artificial bullshit engine—and a surprisingly good one at that. Of course, the model has no intention to deceive or convince. But like a human bullshitter, it also has no intrinsic concern for truth or falsity. ...
... GPT-3 can generate fake news articles that humans can barely detect above chance....
- QUOTE: ... “One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit.” These are the opening words of the short book On Bullshit, written by the philosopher Harry Frankfurt. Fifteen years after the publication of this surprise bestseller, the rapid progress of research on artificial intelligence is forcing us to reconsider our conception of bullshit as a hallmark of human speech, with troubling implications. What do philosophical reflections on bullshit have to do with algorithms? As it turns out, quite a lot. ...
2012
- http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/12/why-people-believe-weird-things-and-8-ways-to-change-their-minds.php
- QUOTE: People love sensational stories. They like to pass on tales that make the listener very happy, disgusted or afraid: anything that provokes a strong emotional response.
Neutral stories, which are probably more likely to be true, but much more boring, therefore get short shrift.
- QUOTE: People love sensational stories. They like to pass on tales that make the listener very happy, disgusted or afraid: anything that provokes a strong emotional response.
2009
- Alberto Brandolini
- QUOTE: … The amount of energy necessary to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it. ...
2005
- (Wallace, 2005) ⇒ David Foster Wallace. (2005). “Commencement Speech to Kenyon College Class of 2005."
- QUOTE: ... “And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes " What the hell is water ? " This is a standard requirement of US commencement speeches, the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories. The story thing turns out to be one of the better, less bullshitty conventions of the genre, but if you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don't be. ...
... And I submit that this is what the real, no bullshit value of your liberal arts education is supposed to be about: how to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default setting of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone day in and day out. ...
- QUOTE: ... “And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes " What the hell is water ? " This is a standard requirement of US commencement speeches, the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories. The story thing turns out to be one of the better, less bullshitty conventions of the genre, but if you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don't be. ...