The Monday before Election Day is historically the single biggest day for political advertising. There is a blizzard of campaign ads as candidates make their final plea to voters which can include an abundance of non-truths and outright lies.
Taken all together much of the substance in these political ads could technically be classified as B.S.
In 1986 philosopher Harry Frankfurt wrote a groundbreaking essay about the assault on truth. It was titled “On Bullshit.” It had a massive cultural effect, and it continues to have mainstream impact today.
Frankfurt's central argument is that B.S. is a greater enemy of the truth than lies.
He said the liar cares about the truth. To tell a lie, you must know what the facts are in order to actively hide them or lead someone away from them. But the B.S. artist is completely indifferent to the facts. They do not care whether what they say is true or false; their only goal is to manipulate the listener's perception, advance an agenda, or create a specific impression of themselves.
We are constantly under assault by B.S. according to psychologist John V. Petrocelli, author of the book “The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit.”
Expanding upon his viral TEDx Talk, Petrocelli reveals the critical thinking habits you can develop to recognize and combat pervasive false information and delusional thinking that has become a common feature of everyday life.
Petrocelli argues that B.S. is the foundation of contaminated thinking and bad decisions that leads to health consequences, financial losses, legal consequences, broken relationships, and wasted time and resources. No matter how smart we believe ourselves to be, we’re all susceptible to B.S. And we all engage in it.
It’s how Bernie Madoff successfully swindled billions of dollars from even the most experienced financial experts with his Ponzi scheme. It’s how the protocols of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward resulted in the deaths of 36 million people from starvation. It’s how millions of Americans vote for corrupt politicians who actively work to make their voters’ lives worse off.
But with a little dose of skepticism and a commitment to truth seeking, everyone can build their critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills to evaluate information, separate fact from fiction, and see through B.S. spin.
Petrocelli provides strategies to recognize and protect ourselves from the barrage of everyday B.S. including the toxic misinformation spread from the social media influencers, biased news outlets, and cringy op-eds that permeate our culture — and call out B.S. whenever we see it.
Guest:
John V. Petrocelli is the author of the book “The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit.” He is a professor of psychologist at Wake Forest University.
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This interview will be recorded live Monday, November 2, 2026, at 12:00 p.m.
