<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">fabio vicentini</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:fmvicent@gmail.com">fmvicent@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 12:23 AM<br>Subject: Informe sobre la corrupción en Exactas - Parte 17<br>To: "<a href="mailto:presidencia@conicet.gov.ar">presidencia@conicet.gov.ar</a>" <<a href="mailto:presidencia@conicet.gov.ar">presidencia@conicet.gov.ar</a>>, <a href="mailto:FulbrightNEXUS@iie.org">FulbrightNEXUS@iie.org</a>, <a href="mailto:info@fundacionsadosky.org.ar">info@fundacionsadosky.org.ar</a>, <a href="mailto:info@mincyt.gob.ar">info@mincyt.gob.ar</a>, <a href="mailto:prensa@mincyt.gov.ar">prensa@mincyt.gov.ar</a><br>
<br><br><div dir="ltr">
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style>Asunto: La distincion entre
mentira y camelo</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style>Segun mi propia apreciacion los
principales mandamientos de la tabla mosaica son por orden de gravedad: no
mentir, no robar y no matar. Todos mentimos en menor o mayor grado pero
distingo entre quienes lo hacen cuando se sienten obligados o acorralados y los
mentirosos pertinaces. Otra distincion de la mentira es la simple mentira o
faltar a la verdad y la mentira sofisticada que yo llamo “camelo”. La gente
pobre miente por falta de educacion pero la clase media y rica hace camelo.
Este tema viene a cuento porque nuestra facultad esta llena de cameleros
obligados por el mandato “publish or perish”. El<span> </span>ensayo de Harry Frankfurt es notable en su
manera de distinguir la mentira del camelo. La siguiente es una sintesis
obtenida del pensamiento de este filosofo de la universidad de Princeton sobre
el tema. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style lang="EN-US">Lying is not the same as bullshitting</span></u><u><span style="color:blue" lang="EN-US"><br>
<br>
</span></u><span style="font-size:14pt;color:blue" lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style lang="EN-US">In
Eric Ambler's novel Dirty Story, a character named Arthur Abdel Simpson<br>
recalls advice that he received as a child from his father:<br>
<br>
"Never tell a lie when you can bullshit your way through."<br>
<br>
This presumes that there is an important difference between lying and<br>
bullshitting, and that the latter is preferable to the former.<br>
<br>
The father did not consider bullshitting morally superior to lying. Nor<br>
that he regarded lies as less effective than bullshit.<br>
<br>
After all, an intelligently crafted lie may do its work with unqualified<br>
success.<br>
<br>
It may be that Simpson thought it easier to get away with bullshitting<br>
than with lying.<br>
<br>
Or perhaps he meant that, although the risk of being caught is about the<br>
same in each case, the consequences of being caught are generally less<br>
severe for the bullshitter than for the liar.<br>
<br>
In fact, people do tend to be more tolerant of bullshit than of lies,<br>
perhaps because we are less inclined to take the former as a personal<br>
affront. We may seek to distance ourselves from bullshit, but we are more<br>
likely to turn away from it with an impatient or irritated shrug than with<br>
the sense of violation or outrage that lies often inspire.<br>
<br>
Telling a lie is an act with a sharp focus. It is designed to insert a<br>
particular falsehood at a specific point in a set or system of beliefs, in<br>
order to avoid the consequences of having that point occupied by the<br>
truth. This requires a degree of craftsmanship, in which the teller of the<br>
lie submits to constraints imposed by what he takes to be the truth.<br>
<br>
The liar is inescapably concerned with truth-values. In order to invent a<br>
lie at all, he must think he knows what is true. And in order to invent an<br>
effective lie, he must design his falsehood under the guidance of that<br>
truth.<br>
<br>
On the other hand, a person who undertakes to bullshit his way through has<br>
much more freedom. His focus is panoramic rather than particular. He does<br>
not limit himself to inserting a certain falsehood at a specific point,<br>
and thus he is not constrained by the truths surrounding that point or<br>
intersecting it. He is prepared to fake the context as well, so far as<br>
need requires.<br>
<br>
This freedom from the constraints to which the liar must submit does not<br>
necessarily mean, of course, that his task is easier than the task of the<br>
liar. But the mode of creativity upon which it relies is less analytical<br>
and less deliberative than that which is mobilized in lying. It is more<br>
expansive and independent, with more spacious opportunities for<br>
improvisation, color, and imaginative play. This is less a matter of<br>
craft than of art. Hence the familiar notion of the "bullshit artist."<br>
<br>
My guess is that the recommendation offered by Arthur Simpson's father<br>
reflects the fact that he was more strongly drawn to this mode of<br>
creativity, regardless of its relative merit or effectiveness, than he was<br>
to the more austere and rigorous demands of lying.<br>
--------------<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style lang="EN-US">You
will find the complete article at<br>
</span><span><span><span style="color:windowtext" lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/articleB5BD6D4417AF444DBD8F9770AA729B26.asp" target="_blank">http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/articleB5BD6D4417AF444DBD8F9770AA729B26.asp</a></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Cheers,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Fabio<br>
<span style="color:blue"><br>
<br>
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
</div>
</div><br></div>