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w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶l̶i̶n̶u̶x̶.̶c̶o̶m̶
How to React to Possible Bullshitting Situation and Options to Reply
If I feel I’m being bullshitted, then I might want to quickly analyze (try and figure out), and do, the following things:
– Is the person asking me something? (or for something?)
– Is the person telling me something? (or to do something?)
– Is the person fishing for information?
For example they are neither asking nor telling me something — they just say a bunch of bullshit that doesn’t make sense and then pause and wait for a response. This could indicate the person isn’t trying to tell me anything at all but rather is trying to get me to tell them some information. In this case it’s likely important to the person that *I volunteer the information to them*, as opposed to them having to ask me for the information directly. In this case perhaps the person for whatever reason wants to retain the position of power in the conversation, but still wants to get information from me.
– Is the person trying to indirectly/politely say “no” to something?
– Try and figure out by the overall feel, context, tone and types of words that they are using, what their general meaning is.
Ignore some of the details that don’t line up with their overall message. Even if their words are indirect or don’t clearly express a complete idea, their communication might, when taken as a whole, point to what the person is getting at.
– Rephrase the person’s words back to them in a direct, clear, grammatically-complete sentence, and then ask them if that’s what they meant.
– If the person is asking a yes/no question, and the answer won’t be yes or no, then rephrase the person’s question into a non-yes-or-no question, then reply to that non-yes-or-no question, then ask whether that answers their question.
Edit: This post was previously published at: w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶l̶i̶n̶u̶x̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/2016-06-27-bullshit-determine-more-information.php
[2019 edit: Moved to: https://i̶n̶v̶e̶s̶t̶o̶r̶w̶o̶r̶k̶e̶r̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/2016/... .html.]