Detecting bullshit is an important strategy for our time. Facebook, Twitter, major media, and television personalities all engage in some form of bullshit as do jewelers, car salesmen, and diet gurus. Arguments from authority are one way of persuading people to your point of view whether the authorities are correct or slanted.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part is anecdotal stories illustrating bullshit by personalities such as Deepak Chopra, Donald Trump, and others. It is very important when so much information is floating around to have a way to do critical thinking to separate what’s real from what’s being hyped.
The second half of the book, and in my view the most interesting, presents strategies and checklists for detecting bullshit. While not a prefect solution, it does give you a place to start and encourages you to sharpen your faculties to get a better handle on the truth. I particularly liked his suggestion of asking questions that require evidence based replies. Bullshitters make things sound wonderful, but they slide over what their pronouncements are really based on.
I recommend this book if you want to develop or bush up your skills in critical thinking for getting closer to the truth.
I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.
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