# What to you is the epitome of bullshit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890 "2012-02-15T03:16:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/21 "2012-02-15T06:50:01Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > A position that is so totally idiotic that I wish I knew someone who espoused it so that I could argue with them about it is the idea that Christians in the US are persecuted, that there’s a war on Christianity, that there’s a war on Christmas, etc. I’ll send you the cell number of my brother-in-law. Actual quotes: “Liberals are actively attempting to subvert this country.” “Liberals are conducting a war on Christmas.” “America lost it’s moral edge in the 1950s.” “The amount of damage in the WTC attack was greater as a percentage of the GDP than Pearl Harbor, but there still are people who oppose this (Iraq) war.” I grew up as a devout Mormon, and could write essays on all the BS in that religion. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/22 "2012-02-15T07:21:05Z")
Conspiracy theories, especially anything involving Freemasons, the “Illuminati”, and “Zionists”. Bonus points if UFO-related shit is thrown in. Basically, Jeff Rense. On a more personal level - any kind of lying about military service, especially “black ops” and “special forces” so secret that there’s no record of their ever having served and no documentation for anything. I can’t stand these bullshitters, and there are SO many of them. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/23 "2012-02-15T07:21:47Z")
First thing that came to mind is any infomercial, under the guise of a news show or “authoritative” source that’s simply faux window dressing to hock whatever their version of snake oil is. But I’ve been up late the past several nights, so it’s been peeving me off. I mean, who falls for that? It’s so painfully obvious it’s an actress pretending to be a news anchor, and the “doctors/scientists/chemists” could be anybody. Obviously a sucker is born everyday, and I guess that’s why it just totally bums me out. We’re surrounded by idiots. Also, any pseudoscience and ridiculous conspiracy theories like _Astrology, Psychics, Ghost hunting, Alternative Medicine (including a lot of what’s found in Chiropractic and Acupuncture techniques), Colon Cleansing, Hypnotism, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, Magnetic Therapy, Homeopathy, Faith Healing, Crop Circles, Ufologists, Moon Landing Hoax, 9/11 “Truthers”_… ugh, the list goes on… One more that stands out, of course, is Scientology. It might be the epitome of BS religions, because it’s the most popular religion founded within the last 60 years. By a drugged out, scifi author. All very well documented on its origins, with leaked beliefs that challenge the insanity of any faith, let alone a poorly written science fiction story, on top of plenty of evidence of abuse and swindling of its members. And still, the suckers come in droves. All the above, that millions upon millions will believe that sort of shit and spread it around until the day they die, is almost fascinating if it weren’t so pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/24 "2012-02-15T07:25:05Z")
This thread. This post. This sentence. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/25 "2012-02-15T07:36:33Z")
Fox News. Can’t believe I’m the first to mention it. What a huge load of bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/26 "2012-02-15T07:45:23Z")
I was thinking Sylvia Browne and Miss Cleo or so-called psychics in general. There are lots of good answers in this thread so far. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/27 "2012-02-15T07:47:47Z")
> [@Enlightening\_Meditation](#): > > I was thinking Sylvia Browne and Miss Cleo or so-called psychics in general. > > There are lots of good answers in this thread so far. But only one [right answer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14775798&postcount=24). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/28 "2012-02-15T07:52:17Z")
Religion. Pseudoscience. “Conspiracy theorist”\* style conspiracies. \*To distinguish them from conspiracy theories that are either true or plausible. Of course if such a theory is true it never gets called a conspiracy; it gets labeled a scandal, a hoax, a fraud, or has the suffix -gate added to it. > [@Kozmik](#): > > This thread. This post. This sentence. But if your post is true, then this thread is false. But if this thread is false your thread is true. But if your post is true, then this thread is false… ERROR ERROR _\_ ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/29 "2012-02-15T08:54:15Z")
The epitome of bullshit in religion? Scientology. But in general? Evolutionary psychology, or maybe homeopathy. It’s hard to choose just one. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/30 "2012-02-15T09:57:33Z")
The idea that modern free market capitalism is the best system man can devise to ensure equitable and efficient use of the world’s resources, despite all the evidence to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/31 "2012-02-15T10:08:44Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Sungazing. It’s not all bullshit, sometimes on a heavily overcast day, I look at the light cloud where the sun should be ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/32 "2012-02-15T10:12:12Z")
All postmodern literary criticism. The only thing useful to me about studying that stuff was getting my bullshit detector finely tuned. It’s a mode of discourse specifically designed only to mask its complete lack of content in as much pseudo-intellectual gobbledegook as possible. Edit: Come to think of it, [this xkcd](http://xkcd.com/451/) sums it up pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/33 "2012-02-15T10:26:23Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > All postmodern literary criticism. The only thing useful to me about studying that stuff was getting my bullshit detector finely tuned. It’s a mode of discourse specifically designed only to mask its complete lack of content in as much pseudo-intellectual gobbledegook as possible. Agree 100%. My favourite Dutch writer, Karel van het Reve, held a prestigious, yet hilarious lecture on this very subject. And he was, at the time, professor in Russian Literature. After that speech, literary criticism as a college study in the Netherlands pretty much died a silent death. It is a shame it isn’t, to my knowledge, translated in English. On the other hand, Reve’s own “History of Russian Literature” is a pleasure to read. > [@](#): > > van het Reve is considered to be one of the finest Dutch essayists, his interests ranging from the fallacies of Marxism to nude beach etiquette. His works include a history of Russian literature, 2 novels and several collections of essays. In 1978 Karel van het Reve delivered the Huizinga Lecture, under the title: Literatuurwetenschap: het raadsel der onleesbaarheid (Literary studies. The enigma of unreadability). My own contribution is corporate reorganisations at work. All the more so because as a worker, you pretty much have to nod and smile or even agree enthusiastically. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/34 "2012-02-15T10:37:04Z")
It’s hard to pick just one: Astrology, homeopathy, Von Daniken, Carlos Castaneda, theism, feng shui all come to mind. But the very first image that comes to mind when I hear the word “Bullshit” is the face of John Edward. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/35 "2012-02-15T10:43:38Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > But if your post is true, then this thread is false. But if this thread is false your thread is true. But if your post is true, then this thread is false… > > ERROR > > ERROR > > _\_ Careful there. It’s all fun and games until the universe SEGFAULTs 🙂 What do I think of when you say bullshit? “We regret these layoffs, but at the end of the day we must leverage our synergies moving forward”. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/36 "2012-02-15T12:04:01Z")
Human-caused global warming that will result in environmental catastrophes. Scientology. Government conspiracy theories, e.g. “WTC as brought down by controlled demolition.” Homeopathy. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/37 "2012-02-15T12:54:12Z")
The very first thing that popped into my mind is social conservativism. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/38 "2012-02-15T12:59:08Z")
Penn and Teller. That’s my first thought. Then there was a card game I used to play. But I’d agree with creationism. The bible itself is full of it. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/39 "2012-02-15T13:05:13Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Critical theorists don’t treat science as an ideology, they treat it as what it is: an exploitative power dynamic social construct reinforced by the entrenched polymorphically perverse patriarchy. Oh, bravo! (golf clap) Lots of great ideas here, but I haven’t yet seen stock market analysis here. Surely some of you must have savings invested in unit trusts, managed funds, that kind of thing? If so, don’t immediately chuck away the next interim report you get, with a statement from the fund manager. Read it all through carefully, it’s really priceless. The sheer amount of intellectual effort these monkeys expend throwing their darts at the board and then justifying their scores… I can’t help feeling that ALL fund managers are former post-modern literary critics who got smart enough to realise where the money was. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890/40 "2012-02-15T13:13:45Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Human-caused global warming that will result in environmental catastrophes. :rolleyes: Though that does remind me of the cluster of anti-science ideologies, one or other of which gets rolled out by AGW skeptics, and many of which have been brought up here. Such as the idea that whatever science _I_ can’t understand, no-one else can either. However I refuse to educate myself, thus is the rest of the human race ignorant. If I don’t know how something works, no-one else does, and if they say they do they’re lying. (And I’m aware that charge could be levelled at my previous post, but then I would point to all the studies that show average long-term fund manager performance really IS a dart-flinging, entrail reading exercise) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-you-is-the-epitome-of-bullshit/612890.md?page=3)