"Bullshit" is a term I detect myself using, either in thinking or verbalizing, in recent years more than before. Usually, this is my response to some pronouncement I hear in the form of  an advertisement, propaganda or political demagoguery. I use the term unapologetically and with conviction that it best expresses what I think, believe and feel about what I am responding to.

Any reluctance I had in using this term was removed from my psyche several years ago after I read the book On Bullshit by Henry Frankfurt, a moral Philosopher and professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton University. He contends that the concept is related to but distinct from lying and notes that there is "the contemporary proliferation of bullshit." While my take on bullshit is similar in some respects to that of Frankkfurt's it differs as is  noted in my definition of bullshit to be presented later. Perhaps, it is because of the many ways that are now available for people to communicate because of new technologies that include facebook, twitter, google and celular phones, bullshit is more plentiful and more difficult for a person to avoid being bomabarded or saturated with in today's world.

Before defining bullshit, allow me to say a word about raw or real bullshit as I experienced during my boyhood. Having been raised on a farm and privileged, at least I thought that to be true at the time, to tend cows and to observe cows giving birth to calves (heifers), one of my chores was to literally handle bulllshit, i.e., to collect it and use it to fertilize vegetables such as peas and corn. I did not make a distinction between busllshit and heifershit or female  cowshit. Although  then   as  now  shit  was considered to be a vulgar or profane term. I was taught or learned to call it "cow mature" or "male cow poop." I recall, however, that busllshit (male excrement) did appear to be greater in volume and had a stronger scent than heifershit, (from a young female cow) or cowshit (from a female cow beyond the age of a two or three year-old heifer). Apparently, the strong scent of bullshit resulted from quantity, nothig more.

Bullshit is an English expletive which may be shortened to the euphemism "bull" or "BS," not to be confused with the B.S. degree, although I recall having heard it used by people who referred to those having received B.S. degeres. Bullshit, as I understand and employ the term in my thinking and expression, is a blatant lie, even if framed a "white lie," a fragrant (to the bullshitter) untruth, nonsense and disingeneous. It misrepresents the facts and endeavors to deceive a person into believing a falsehood. It is how I define bullshit that makes the concept somewhat different from Frankfurt's.

I have no better term and know no better way to refute a lie and respond to much of what I hear than to simply think or say "bullshit," primarily to address the bullshitters. Like any one-worders such as  beautiful, ugly, wonderful and so on that expresses well one's intent, for me bullshit, singular and without superfluous words, delcares the truth effectively and fully what I think or choose to verbally express.

Ernest Hemingway attributed his success as a writer to being able to have a built in shockproof 'crap' (bullshit) detector. He emphasized that "there is plenty of 'crap' around." By detecting the bullshit anyone can increase his success and happiness.

Although I could say much more about bullshit, probably like Farnkfurt write a book about it, having encountered and will, inescapably, continue to encounter more bullshitters, I rest my case.

Copyright 2013 by Uriah J. Fields