I'm 17 pages in and I am wondering if the paper itself is bullshit and that's the joke.
Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
11–20 of 270 posts
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#12The notion of bullshitters needs to be brought to the front of our industry's consciousness. Our industry is one where the impostor complex is rife and anyone who sounds confident must know what they're talking about, since even the PhD's aren't half as confident in their field of expertise as a bullshitter is at anything. The tech industry is increasingly inundated with these types of people who manage to get placed…
If bullshitters rise to the top with very little work or knowledge, then perhaps being a bullshitter is the smart choice for people of a certain disposition.
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#13I'm amazed Ireland is so low on the bullshit scale. I feel like we're amazingly good at it. Actually I would say that the country is full of quite subtle bullshitters. I think they gamed the test.
Hey, it's quite common to each country to see themselves as the best in some things that everyone have.
I've been around South America and each country has a word for "McGyverism" because they see themselves as resourceful. The funny part? Every one of them say they are the only one with a word just for it.
Same goes with bullshit, people in Rio de Janeiro think they're best in bullshiterry in the world. NYers claim the same, and Chinese street vendors in Shenzhen area too.
It's just normal for human groups to see themselves this ways and even take proud of it
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#14Literally everywhere? I don't think I've worked in a work environment to date where at least half of anyone in a management position was not a complete BSer. It honestly made me wonder if that's what it takes to move up.
Clearly not if only half of management are bullshitters. It's also not exclusive to management: I've met plenty of rank-and-file developers who specialize in talking shite.
The difference is that if you're an IC you generally have to produce actual work that will be evaluated at some point. It's of course possible to BS your way into showing your manager you did more than you actually did or better than what you actually produced. If you're in management, then your job becomes mostly talking/meetings, which is much more conducive to "hand waving," which is probably why there are so many BSers who end up thriving in those roles.
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#15The notion of bullshitters needs to be brought to the front of our industry's consciousness. Our industry is one where the impostor complex is rife and anyone who sounds confident must know what they're talking about, since even the PhD's aren't half as confident in their field of expertise as a bullshitter is at anything. The tech industry is increasingly inundated with these types of people who manage to get placed…
Dude I struggle with this everyday. When I first started off in my career I was so nervous to express any technical ideas or questions in front of other people because I thought I was stupid- as I started progressing in my career I learned that a lot of the people I encountered at work who were ultra confident (and probably attributed to my tech self-consciousness) actually knew way less than I thought. I still don’t consider myself to be good at what I do, but I do know what I do know, and more importantly I know what I do not know.
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#16It's interesting the definition of bullshit in this study:
> ‘Bullshitters’ are individuals who claim knowledge or expertise in an area where they actually have little experience or skill.
compared to the definition that the philosopher Harry Fankfurt came to in his book On Bullshit, and that this study references:
> bullshit is speech intended to persuade without regard for truth. The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether their listener is persuaded.
The key difference being, these teenagers might still have regard for the truth, they think they know it and believe they know it. But they're still bullshitters under the definition used in this study. Intention seems to have been discarded in this study when I think it plays a very big part, especially among teens. The specific context of a situation might mean certain individuals are inclined to overclaim vs others because they have different reasons to.
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#17Lower coefficient of bullshit in areas where people are likely to say "u wot m8"? Can't say I'm surprised.
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#18The notion of bullshitters needs to be brought to the front of our industry's consciousness. Our industry is one where the impostor complex is rife and anyone who sounds confident must know what they're talking about, since even the PhD's aren't half as confident in their field of expertise as a bullshitter is at anything. The tech industry is increasingly inundated with these types of people who manage to get placed…
If bullshitters rise to the top with very little work or knowledge, then perhaps being a bullshitter is the smart choice for people of a certain disposition.
Perhaps for them in a narrow sense, but considering the damage they do, I'm to the point where I'd be willing to have companies pay them their inflated salaries just to stay home and not interfere.
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#19I consider myself to be an anti-bullshitter. I once said in a job interview that I knew nothing about the technology they were hiring for, but I was pretty sure I could take a decent stab at it.
I was telling the truth.
I got the job.
Re: Bullshitters: Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives? [pdf]
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Clearly not if only half of management are bullshitters. It's also not exclusive to management: I've met plenty of rank-and-file developers who specialize in talking shite.
The difference is that if you're an IC you generally have to produce actual work that will be evaluated at some point. It's of course possible to BS your way into showing your manager you did more than you actually did or better than what you actually produced. If you're in management , then your job becomes mostly talking/meetings, which is much more conducive to "hand waving," which is probably why there are so man…
No way. Plenty of people drift through life getting other people to do work for them.