More Effective Bullshit Meter

Many people swear to the existence of something called gaydar, which I understand to be some sort of gauge of the sexuality of others. By 2010, I think we all know that the idea of such a device is pretty much bogus. That is to say that it does not exist in a tangible way that any can be practically used and sold commercially (this seems like the kind of thing SkyMall would sell exclusively). I have reservations with the idea of such a thing existing even in a non-tangible form, but when it comes right down to it, gaydar is probably something that just shouldn't exist anyway. People should be allowed to come to terms with their sexuality and allow others to do the same without some sort of gauge or meter doing it for them.

There is, however, another person-rating device that I think would be invaluable: a BS-meter. Let me explain what I mean by BS by giving a few examples. When a person talks about himself too much and his story has many inconsistencies, he is probably full of BS. When a politician promises anything, you can probably assume it’s BS. Any get rich quick scheme is very likely to be BS.

Those are just simple examples with clear-cut cases of BS. Even with those clear illustrations of BS, many people are still fooled. Many people even believe they have a well-tuned inner sense of what is BS and what is not. But all of us are fooled from time to time. We are fooled by that politician who promises something we want to believe in or by that ‘fool-proof’ scheme for abundant riches because we desperately desire the cash.

This would be the sales pitch for anyone who could develop a more effective ‘BS Meter.’ I think the SkyMall catalog could make a killing off of something like that. I think people could buy several of them. I would put one near the TV, so it could detect BS in the news media. I would have another on me at all times (maybe in the form of a key chain?) to decipher my daily interactions with people. This would dramatically improve my life.

As with any of my ideas, I welcome comments telling me if this already exists and where I can find it.