The BS Effect

Have you ever been put on the spot, whether from a deadline that came too quickly or an unexpected spotlight pointed straight at you, and concocted such a cleverly crafted response that those who heard it were enthralled? I call this the Bullsh*t Effect. I currently have a MS in Bullsh*t and am working on my doctorate. It’s an underrated skill, but one that has merit!

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m a Bullsh*t savant, but I’ve been known to wax prosaic when in reality I’m just pulling a response out of the miasma swirling around my brain that I deftly mix with verbiage that sounds like I know what I’m talking about. And if you don’t have a savvy BS detector, you might not see through my loquaciousness to the underlying frailty of my response.

Of course, I probably shouldn’t be telling you any of this as it will likely undermine the beauty of future fabrications. By the same token, I think it needs to be recognized that the adroit utilization of BS is a life skill and therefore worthy of recognition.

You may ask yourself, isn’t it wrong to BS? To that I say, it all depends on circumstance and context. An outright lie can be damaging and is likely to be exposed in the end due to its very nature. But truth, laced with a bit of flowery BS, can be very effective. You may relate it to embellishments, harmless bits of fluff that make one sound like a veritable genius and can eloquently convince an audience of the veracity of your claim. Ah, true virtuosity.

Perhaps there should be workshops on this undervalued artistry. Until that time, I will continue my own individualized curriculum and may one day become a true sage of Bullsh*t.