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Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

journals.plos.org

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Re: Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

#191

Post by xamuel »

But the so-called 'genuinely profound sentences' are themselves subjective.

In the abstract, the 'profound' example they give is: "The person who never made a mistake never tried something new".

But this is itself a deeper level of BS. The intended moral of this quotation is "You should try something new", but if you accept that as an axiom, then the act of never-trying-something-new is itself a mistake, and so the sentence contradicts itself.

If Albert Einstein wracked his brain for the most profound statement he could come up with, it would be indistinguishable from bullshit to anyone but a top theoretical physicist.

The article should be titled something more like: "Fortune-cookie sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior"

Re: Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

#192

Post by abruzzi »

It is kind of interesting--maybe irrelevant to the paper, but all the "profound" sentences rely on a comparison:

  1. power vs. persistence
  4. things you say and things you do not say
  6. our flaws and other's flaws
  7. open door and entering (what your teacher does and what you must do)
  9. the comparison is implied but trying something new vs never trying something new.
  11. again implied but imagined pain versus real pain
  14. tempted and resisting vs tempted and falling.
whereas the "bullshit" sentences seem mostly to be simpler constructs.

  2:  a causes b
  3:  a causes b for c
  5:  a and b provides c for d
  8:  a changes b (this one has a very weakly implied comparison, because "universal observations" 
  changes and is therefore not "universal", but there is no specificity about the difference so it 
  is not really a comparison, just noting the change.) 
  etc.
there are no comparisons in them. I wonder if that has anything to do with just the structure we're used to for aphorisms and folk wisdom?

Re: Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

#193

Post by [deleted] »

duopixel wrote: post #19

A simple self-experiment if you haven't read the paper, find which of these sentences are bullshit. Answer in order without reading further ahead, and don't go back to change your answers (as to replicate experimental conditions). * 1. A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but it's persistence. 2. The hidden meaning transforms the abstract beauty. 3. The future elucidates irrational facts for the seek…

[deleted]

Re: Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

#195

Post by [deleted] »

SamBam wrote: post #168
pixl97 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>1. A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but it's persistence. This one annoys me, because of it's ether/or proposition when it is more of a and/or function. Yes, water including rivers cuts through rocks in more than one way. For example, Ph differences in the water can cause chemical weathering of the rock. In general these effects happen slowly and need to be persistent for any measurable effect.…

That seems to be entirely missing the point that it's a metaphor. It's like taking issue with another of the profound statements: "Your teacher can open the door, but you have to step in." "Well, no," you point out, "you could be carried in by the teacher. Or maybe you're in a wheelchair and you need to wheel in." The door, and stepping, in this case, are to be understood metaphorically. So is the river and the rock.

[deleted]

Re: Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

#197

Post by methodover »

duopixel wrote: post #19

A simple self-experiment if you haven't read the paper, find which of these sentences are bullshit. Answer in order without reading further ahead, and don't go back to change your answers (as to replicate experimental conditions). * 1. A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but it's persistence. 2. The hidden meaning transforms the abstract beauty. 3. The future elucidates irrational facts for the seek…

> 6. We have other flaws before our eyes, but our own flaws behind our back.

There has to be a typo here, right?

I marked this as “bullshit” because it doesn’t make sense. But the link says it’s not bullshit...

Re: Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

#199

Post by methodover »

xamuel wrote: post #191

But the so-called 'genuinely profound sentences' are themselves subjective. In the abstract, the 'profound' example they give is: "The person who never made a mistake never tried something new". But this is itself a deeper level of BS. The intended moral of this quotation is "You should try something new", but if you accept that as an axiom, then the act of never-trying-something-new is itself a mistake, and so the s…

The moral isn’t that you should try something new. It’s that if you’re trying something new and not doing great with it — and feeling embarrassed about it, keep soldiering on. Embarrassment is a natural part of the process.

Re: Bullshit-sensitivity predicts prosocial behavior

#200

Post by mds »

methodover wrote: post #197
duopixel wrote: post #19

A simple self-experiment if you haven't read the paper, find which of these sentences are bullshit. Answer in order without reading further ahead, and don't go back to change your answers (as to replicate experimental conditions). * 1. A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but it's persistence. 2. The hidden meaning transforms the abstract beauty. 3. The future elucidates irrational facts for the seek…

> 6. We have other flaws before our eyes, but our own flaws behind our back. There has to be a typo here, right? I marked this as “bullshit” because it doesn’t make sense. But the link says it’s not bullshit...

Should be “Others’”
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