Lets face it.....Bullshit is all around us....We tell it on a daily basis.....We hear it on a daily basis... We see it on a daily basis........And we know it exists all around us.....I for one can probably name a dozen times daily that I come in contact with this.....(and it is not always coming from me).
Our daily events usually gives us some time to watch the news on TV, or on line. There, I can stop right now. There is more bullshit coming from the news on a daily basis. Every time a politician, newscaster, interviewer etc. opens their mouth.........out comes bullshit. Watch or listen to any entertainer and what comes out ???? That is correct.....Bullshit.
The bottom line is you can't really watch or listen to anything without getting your share of bullshit. Take a trip to the store.......any type of store........Look at the prices.......Look at the sale price.....Look at the suggested price.......Look at what your saving if it is on the receipt....Again....more bullshit.......Listen to the ads from your local Auto dealership about leasing or buying a new car......Again more bullshit......Go to work and you are faced with bullshit from early in the morning, until quitting time......If you are a boss it will be from your employees.......If you are a worker, it will be from your boss.
Oh......have you spoken to your spouse lately about some subject he or she needed to tell you ? I guarantee that you walked away from that thinking to yourself......Oh, what bullshit. Or, you can go to Mens Warehouse and buy something there and the president will tell you that you will love the way it looks........I guarantee it.......????? WTF does that mean ?????
Here are some bullshit facts about Psychology that everyone believes.
#1-If you let your anger out, you will feel better.
You always hear people talk about how "cathartic" an experience was and how much better they feel, or you'll hear them say things like, "If you keep your anger bottled up, one day you'll just snap!"
In fact the "about to go crazy because he can't express anger" character is a mainstay in television and movies (see
that Simpsons episode where Ned Flanders finally loses it, and every movie where a renegade cop fires his gun into the air instead of unloading on the bad guy who just killed his wife).
Things like squeezing stress dolls, screaming into a pillow, hitting a punching bag and strangling a kitten are all practices that we've seen offered as healthy alternatives to walking up to the fish counter at Farm Fresh and drowning the clerk in the lobster tank.
A lot of actual therapies have been constructed around this idea, and they all basically encourage you to curb your anger by feeding a knuckle sandwich to a punching bag, to prevent you from doing the same to your boss. It makes sense, right? Why throw your wife against the refrigerator when the casserole she under-cooked will shatter to pieces in a much more literal, and satisfying way?
Why it is Bullshit:
Research says it doesn't work. Expressing your anger, even against inanimate objects, doesn't make you less angry at all. In fact, it actually makes you
want to get pissed off. Imagine if Bruce Banner walked around all day looking for an excuse to hulk-out, but replace the embarrassing shredded pants with friends and loved ones who are legitimately terrified every time his favorite sports team loses.
See, we humans have these things called "habits." When we do something, and it makes us feel good, we want to do it again... and more often. This is why you don't see a lot of Buddhist monks throwing bricks through storefront windows on their path to enlightenment and Lifetime original movies spend more on broken casserole dishes than on acting. The rush of anger is addictive as hell, and letting yourself lash out as a means to control your anger is like drinking to control your urge to drink.
2- Just believe in yourself and you will succeed.
3- "Be Careful! Advertisers Use Subliminal Messages to Make Us Do Things!"
I purposely did not go into #2 and 3, but there is a link if you are really interested in the answer.
I am not trying to be Cynical about this, but Bullshit is all around us and a big part of all our lives. Actually, I think most of us thrive on it and try to over simplify it. I personally think it is wonderful. It keeps me going. How many of us have friends or business associates that play that old...."Can you top this game" ????? You know that is going to include a fair amount of bullshit.
I really think we need to embrace the word bullshit and treat it with a little more respect. After all, something that is so much a part of our daily lives certainly deserves more than we currently give it.
So the next time you are at a sports event or are watching some sport on TV and the ref makes a bad call and your yelling out Bullshit................be proud.....
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