Thoughts on Bullshit

Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig, es ist nicht einmal falsch!
(It is not only not right, it is not even wrong)

Some big minds tell us that it is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. So this make Bullshit different than lying. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction. A person who lies is responding to the truth, and for his side of it, he believes he understands what the truth is.

When an honest man speaks, he says only what he believes to be true; and for the liar, he believes his statements to be false. For the bullshitter, however, all these bets are off:

Authoring Tools and A Sadistic utility You'll probably try Anyway

Over the last couple of weeks I've been deep delving into linguistics and grammar parsing. Learned some great stuff about Sentiment Programming, and analysis strategy. In doing all of this I've gathered up a long list of software utilities which I'm now trying to catalog and comment on in case you would like to try some of these out. They were an amazing help, and I certainly would not have learned as much as I did  in the short time I gave myself to understand these areas of research.

What did I learn? Well I learned that the last couple of weeks was spent deep delving into areas of research about exactly the wrong areas. However, I never would have found the right area if I didn't go there.

I also learned some useful aspects of Sentiment, and Big Data, both of which I'll be posting on as well over the next couple of weeks.


This first list is a collection of some Authoring software which I have enjoyed on various levels. Gir will show you the ones I find most useful.

To Really Mess Things Up Takes a SpreadSheet

Spreadsheets are essential tools for enterprises. Other financial and business intelligence applications have emerged over the years, but the spreadsheet remains the fundamental tool for financial reporting and analysis and for sharing numerical or tabular data. Spreadsheet applications have grown more powerful, and spreadsheets themselves have grown bigger and more complex, making it more difficult for spreadsheet users and internal auditors to identity risks and errors in spreadsheet data and formulas. If uncorrected, these risks and errors could lead to strategic missteps, erroneous financial reporting, regulatory fines, and other costly outcomes. To reduce risks and errors while keeping spreadsheet users productive, enterprises need a spreadsheet risk management solution that is:

• Comprehensive 
• Fast 
• Accurate 
• Scalable 
• Easy to use 
• Easy to learn 
• Supportive of best practices 

A Look at Propaganda in the Ukraine

The New York Times has an interview with Mr. Pomerantsev  which is certainly worth looking into if you are interested in the use of Propaganda on the Cable News. The differences between the use of aggressive persuasion on the TV and in Text are of course different via the medium constraints. For example Guilt as a means of motivation can be evoked 17 ways (that I know of) through video, and only 4 ways through text. Text trumps in other directions.

Mr. Pomerantsev’s book, “Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible,” has particular resonance, describing a world where laws change at the whim of the powerful and where television provides an ever-present, entertaining and emotionally charged distortion of reality.

Mr. Pomerantsev’s area of study is propaganda, and he believes he saw many classic techniques at work in Moscow. He says one favorite trick was to put a credible expert next to a neo-Nazi, juxtaposing fact with fiction so as to encourage so much cynicism that viewers believed very little. Another was to give credence to conspiracy theories — by definition difficult to rebut because their proponents are immune to reasoned debate.

Debunk from F.E.E. on the Common Core Deniers

The Foundation for Excellence in Education, states --below in the Background area of their article -- that they respect much of the work of the American Principles Project and the work of Ms. Gallagher.

I don't.

First off, why is a 501.(c)(3) Non-Profit commenting on and campaigning against Government Policy in the first place?

So far every claim they have made against Common Core has been (dis)Information. There is a very important difference between "misinformation" and "disinformation".  Misinformation means that you didn't know what you were propagating was inaccurate. It means that you had no other agenda other than attempting to provide the best information you had available, and that what you knew was of importance.

DisInformation is something else entirely,

Republican Propaganda Editing the State of the Nation Speech

Republicans Post Doctored Version Of State Of The Union, Censor Facts On Climate Change
BY EMILY ATKIN POSTED ON JANUARY 21, 2015 AT 10:42 AM

The official website for House Republicans has posted on YouTube a version of President Obama’s State of the Union address which cuts out comments where the President was critical of Republican rhetoric on climate change, ThinkProgress has learned.

Social Media Working Group Act of 2015

*there are reference and investigation tools listed in the sidebar if  you wish to investigate this further. I'm only posting it because I know many of my readers are interested in this area of activity

Current, and In the Senate:

Passed House without amendment (02/02/2015)
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Social Media Working Group Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a social media working group (the Group) to provide guidance and best practices to the emergency preparedness and response community on the use of social media technologies before, during, and after a terrorist attack or other emergency.

Requires the Group to submit an annual report that includes: (1) a review of current and emerging social media technologies being used to support preparedness and response activities related to terrorist attacks and other emergencies; (2) a review of best practices and lessons learned on the use of social media during the response to terrorist attacks and other emergencies that occurred during the period covered by the report; (3) recommendations to improve DHS's use of social media for emergency management purposes, to improve public awareness of the type of information disseminated through social media and how to access such information during a terrorist attack or other emergency, and to improve information sharing among DHS and its components and among state and local governments; (4) a review of available training for government officials on the use of social media in response to a terrorist attack or other emergency; and (5) a summary of coordination efforts with the private sector to discuss and resolve legal, operational, technical, privacy, and security concerns.

ref:H.R.623
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/623/text