November 23, 2014

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Does anyone, other than me, of course, read this bilge? Again the answer must be yes, for on the site was advertised a book, now in its second edition (the rarest edition of my books) with the beautiful title of: No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Guide to Time Management and Sanity

What a charming tribute to our civilization that such a title should be supposed to attract customers! It seems that we have become militantly and proudly crude. One sign of this entropy of refinement is that in 1983 the distinguished philosopher, Max Black, published a well-known paper, The Prevalence of Humbug; only 22 years later an equally distinguished philosopher, Harry Frankfurt, published On Bullshit. Black’s paper begins:

Humbug has the peculiar property of being always committed by others, never by oneself.

Frankfurt’s essay begins:

One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit.

Another salient feature of our culture is that educated people have lost their sense of irony and, with it, of dignity. 

But there are no prizes for guessing which sold better, the humbug or the bullshit. That means that the author of the latter managed his time better. He barred no holds, kicked butt, and took no prisoners.     

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