I’d prefer to reserve the word “bullshit” for “arguments made to advance an agenda with no regard for the truth of the matter”, per Frankfurt. I think you’re using the term to mean “crazy stuff that is just wrongheaded, even if sincerely believed by the idiot in question”; to capture this concept I propose “horseshit”. Thus, one can be a bullshitter, but not a horseshitter (or rather, we’re all horseshitters to one extent or another).
Semantic distinctions are vital to efficient communication. Think of the crimes against good communication that have been committed by indiscriminate, over-broad use of terms like, “freedom,” “democracy,” “efficiency,” “equality,” and “terrorism,” to name just a few. Words carry important connotations, and we cannot help but evoke these connotations when we hear such words, even if they’ve been redefined so that they no longer deserve such connotations.
This is not to endorse this particular distinction; bullshit does appear inaccurate, but the suggested alternative is scarcely better.
I’d prefer to reserve the word “bullshit” for “arguments made to advance an agenda with no regard for the truth of the matter”, per Frankfurt. I think you’re using the term to mean “crazy stuff that is just wrongheaded, even if sincerely believed by the idiot in question”; to capture this concept I propose “horseshit”. Thus, one can be a bullshitter, but not a horseshitter (or rather, we’re all horseshitters to one extent or another).
semantic distinctions are popular here, apparently.
Semantic distinctions are vital to efficient communication. Think of the crimes against good communication that have been committed by indiscriminate, over-broad use of terms like, “freedom,” “democracy,” “efficiency,” “equality,” and “terrorism,” to name just a few. Words carry important connotations, and we cannot help but evoke these connotations when we hear such words, even if they’ve been redefined so that they no longer deserve such connotations.
This is not to endorse this particular distinction; bullshit does appear inaccurate, but the suggested alternative is scarcely better.