Brandini’s Law (The Bullshit Assymmetry Principle)

I encourage everyone who reads this to look it up and add it to your own.

The adage, “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on,” has taken various forms since as early as 1710. Seems to work here.

On the topic of bullshit, it is interesting to study how to refute the bullshit that takes a large amount of energy to discover. This complicated process depends on the audience the bullshit is intended to influence, the time and energy a person is willing to invest in this process, and the medium used to do the refuting.

In order to refute misinformation, one needs to do the following: be correct by including all necessary information that was run by a friend and double-checking facts. Be charitable by acknowledging the possibility of your own confusion, not attributing malice, and not assigning stupidity. Be clear and coherent about the argument you are making. Admit mistakes and faults.

Other techniques for increasing the effectiveness of retracting misinformation include pre-exposure warnings, repeated retractions, and providing an alternative narrative.

There are Similar concepts: As for me, it is to make sure you are arguing “accurate information” to make a point or to have success.

Pareto Principle (80/20 rule): Eighty percent of the problem is the system. Twenty percent is the people, but only people can change the system.

Peter Principle: Observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to their “level of incompetence.” An employee is promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.