Post-truth : why we have reached peak bullshit and what we can do about it Cover Image

Book

Post-truth : why we have reached peak bullshit and what we can do about it / Evan Davis.

Davis, Evan, 1962- (Author).

Summary:

"Low-level dishonesty is rife everywhere, in the form of exaggeration, selective use of facts, economy with the truth, careful drafting - from Trump and the Brexit debate to companies that tell us 'your call is important to us'. How did we get to a place where bullshit is not just rife but apparently so effective that it's become the communications strategy of our times? This brilliantly insightful book steps inside the panoply of deception employed in all walks of life and assesses how it has come to this. It sets out the surprising logic which explains why bullshit is both pervasive and persistent. Why are company annual reports often nonsense? Why should you not trust estate agents? And above all, why has political campaigning become the art of stretching the truth? Drawing on behavioural science, economics, psychology and of course his knowledge of the media, Evan ends by providing readers with a tool-kit to handle the kinds of deceptions we encounter every day, and charts a route through the muddy waters of the post-truth age." -- Publisher's website

Record details

ISBN: 9781408703335
ISBN: 1408703335
ISBN: 9781408703311
ISBN: 1408703319
Physical Description: xx, 347 pages ; 24 cm
Publisher: [London] : Little, Brown, [2017]
Copyright: ©2017

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Section 1: What -- Truth, post-truth and post-fact -- Nonsense and gibberish -- Gestures and phoney behaviour -- Bullshit: the theory -- Section 2: Why -- Hidden messages -- Being human -- Short-termism -- Culture and norms -- Section 3: How -- Limits to the power of persuasion -- Better bullshit -- The discerning listener.