The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.

Richard P. Feynman, Nobel prize winning physicist

“It’s not a lie if you believe it” – George Costanza  

In my last post I called out some bulls**t. I singled out a few famous people – one who is full of it and another whose bulls**t detector seems to have stopped functioning. Admittedly, it’s an easy task, as we all know it’s out there in abundance. However, what truly perplexing is that it’s in there too – that is, it’s in all of us. We can sweet talk others into doing and believing things that are dubious; somehow, we can do this to ourselves too. Yes, you can find a bigger fool to buy the bullsh**t story you make up, and the bigger fool is you.

But how? How can we lie to ourselves of all people? Surely detecting falsehood in others can be hard at times, but if we fabricate the lie, we should know it.

I found an answer in episode 4 of John Vervaeke’s Awakening from the Meaning Crisis. His explanation is as follows (paraphrased):        

You can’t lie to yourself. It’s not possible because you’re in possession of the truth. For example, you can’t decide to believe that everyone loves you. You can wish it, but you can’t voluntarily believe it. But, you can bullshit yourself. Self-deception is possible. What you can do is direct your attention to something more salient. This can create a positive feedback loop where your attention is attached to something and you lose the capacity to notice other things, and that’s how you bullshit (or deceive) yourself.

John Vervaeke

His point is largely based on an excellent academic essay called On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt. (What a fantastic subject, and title, for an academic treatise!). Frankfurt puts his finger on the difference between bull and a lie: 

It is just this lack of connection to a concern with truth — this indifference to how things really are — that I regard as of the essence of bullshit.

Harry Frankfurt

So, the way I see it, a bullshitter is simply in love with their delusion; so much so that they turn a blind eye to anything that could run counter to the outcome, self-image, false reality, or sense of belongingness that they are attached to. So Costanza has it kind of right, just focus on what you want to be true. You can believe what you want if you avoid anything counterfactual. You won’t be lying… but you could be full of it too.   

B.S. Part I (4 min read)

B.S. Part III (3 min read)

K. Wilkins is the author of:

Stoic Virtues Journal: Your Guide to Becoming the Person You Aspire to Be

Rules for Living Journal: Life Advice Based On the Words and Wisdom of Jordan B. Peterson