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Comment by thevirtuoso1973 | Hacker News Reader

thevirtuoso1973·

I just tried that out for a couple sentences when I realised that this is /precisely/ what I would do for English Literature classes, years ago. Perhaps it is no coincidence that that subject that seemingly trains you to 'bullshit' is then also related to intelligence.

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Reminds me of what my friend once told me during my university years - that yes, I do have the ability to get out of tough places with class assignments by inventing a barrage of completely sensible-sounding and technically true chaff like this, and that this ability is making me lazy; that I start to rely on my ability to talk my way into an A instead of putting more work into polishing the project. That remark touched me deeply. I realized that yes, I've been considering this to be a very fun game (the self-imposed restriction that I have to stay truthful was what made it challenging, in a fun way). Ever since I've put an effort into avoiding doing this - it's too easy, and you don't learn as much as you can when actually doing the work to the best of your abilities.

> I realised that this is /precisely/ what I would do for English Literature classes, years ago

I'm pretty sure mastering bullshittery is indeed the only way to pass such a class.

I'm in a technical online Master's program right now, and I'm amazed sometimes at where I get marks taken off, and where I don't, in some of my submissions. The areas I feel I bullshitted the most seem to be the most accepted.

I'm sure there's some survivor/confirmation bias going on there, but even so...

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