Thursday, December 02, 2010
8 X 12 = 96
But, it takes 120 credit hours to earn an undergraduate degree from a school in the LSU system. Since I consider the use of technically true facts to give a misleading impression to be a form of bullshit, I'd have to say that John Lombardi is an unprincipled spreader of bullshit. From today's Times Picayune:
15 seems like the relevant number to me: two semesters ina year, four year program, so 120/8 = 15. If the facts are on your side, you shouldn't need to engage in exaggeration or bullshit.
The most costly and significant change would be to raise $75 million a year by charging undergraduate students for each academic credit hour. Currently, most state colleges charge a fixed tuition for "full-time enrollment" of 12 credit hours per semester. Students that cram more credit hours into a semester pay the same tuition as those who only take 12, meaning the extra classes are essentially free.
According to Board of Regents data, Louisiana college students in fall 2009 enrolled in 301,724 credit hours above the 12-hour level, or the equivalent of more than 25,000 full-time students who aren't paying any tuition at all.
15 seems like the relevant number to me: two semesters ina year, four year program, so 120/8 = 15. If the facts are on your side, you shouldn't need to engage in exaggeration or bullshit.
Both lies and bullshit can either be true or false but bullshitters aim primarily to impress and persuade their audiences, and in general are unconcerned with the truth or falsehood of their statements (it is because of this that Frankfurt concedes that "the bullshitter is faking things", but that "this does not necessarily mean he gets them wrong"). While liars need to know the truth to better conceal it, bullshitters, interested solely in advancing their own agendas, have no use for the truth. Thus, Frankfurt claims, "...bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are" link
