Pseudo-Profound and Insidious Bullshit

Researchers define bullshit as speech, assertions, and communication made with indifference to truth, intended to instill views, mislead, or sell. Pseudo-profound bullshitters excel at conveying meaninglessness in seemingly meaningful ways. Individuals high in bullshit receptivity (assigning meaning to or believing in bullshit), also known as bullshit blindness and bullibility, tend to rely upon reflexive, rather than reflective, cognitive processing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, such individuals tend to have weaker cognitive abilities and are inclined toward collectivist, nationalist, religious, and supernatural ideologies. Thus, bullibility bears close associations with the Dunning-Kruger Effect, part of which establishes that the less adept are particularly likely to overestimate their aptitude.

Pseudo-profound bullshit may also be insidious (covertly and gradually harmful). Insidious bullshit differs from lying in that bullshitters disregard truth, whereas liars disguise it. Research shows that insidious bullshit tends to be more believable than lies, thus more harmful.

References:

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Blötner, C., & Bergold, S. (2023). It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver: Machiavellianism is associated with producing but not necessarily with falling for bullshit. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(1), 467–485.

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