Bullshit

You're right. Everything you just said is bang on. Words are powerful and have more meaning than we give them credit for. There's a whole episode of Doctor Who on this topic (can you guess which one?). And it's true that the amount of useless talking that people do everyday saturates our ability to appreciate the value of words. All of these things are true.

But this blog wouldn't be terribly interesting if I just agreed with everything you say. I would even go so far as to say that that entire first paragraph just succeeded in adding to all of the problems you see with too much talking.

But I'll be honest, James. It almost sounds like you are looking for a world without bullshit. However, this hypothetical non-bullshit world is not only impossible... it sounds completely undesirable to me. I mean, without bullshit, how would college students get B minuses on their term papers? How would people pretend that they remember meeting someone who they've just run into for (apparently) the third time? How would James Patterson afford his mansions?

We need bullshit... for so many reasons. And not just those obvious ones. This blog, for instance, could not exist without a healthy dose of bullshit. Because what do either of us know about anything, really? Nothing! But we get by with an ability to manipulate the English language and by having a BA in Bullshit. (actually, that example was admittedly pretty obvious)

Truth be told, unless you're writing peer-reviewed physics reports based on years of study (and sometimes even then), most of what we say is just conjured up nonsense from our minds. We take a stance and we back it up with whatever limited world experience we have and pair that with some entirely made up statistics. This is a standard equation that almost everyone is guilty of relying on.

But I think that every writer out there benefits from this convenient truth: That bullshit is easy, fun and empowering. We can sit with pen in hand and make things up for hours on end and call it a novel. And then, if we're lucky, someone will pay us for it. And then, if we're really lucky, a bunch of people will pay to read it. And if this lucky streak continues for long enough, you turn into James Patterson. So, I guess there is a down side to bullshit. James Patterson.

How do you feel about Bullshit, James? I know you've mused on this topic before. I can feel it. Tell me the greatest Bullshit story you've ever heard, or told.

Sorry I didn't have any Winter Institute stories to share with you in this post. They were mostly all bullshit anyway.