Bullshit: The New Truth
March 16, 2026
In my decades as an analyst and fiduciary, I have never seen the industry so saturated with what I can only call “mistake-filled garbage.” We have entered an era where “bullshit” is no longer a mere byproduct of marketing; it is the primary operating system of financialized capitalism. It is a sophisticated tool used to manufacture consent, inflate asset prices, and extract wealth from the realm of perception rather than the realm of production.
The core of this problem is captured in the folk wisdom: “Bullshit Baffles Brains”. It is the calculated use of confusing, complex, or overwhelming nonsense to short-circuit a rational person’s ability to think clearly. Unlike a liar, who cares enough about the truth to subvert it, the bullshitter has a total disregard for accuracy. Their only goal is to achieve a desired effect—to sound smart, to sell a toxic product, or to avoid a difficult question.
The Mechanics of the Muzzle
Why does this work on otherwise sophisticated investors? It exploits fundamental vulnerabilities in human cognition:
Cognitive Overload: By bombarding us with a “firehose” of complex jargon, rapid-fire arguments, and endless statistics, bullshitters fill up our working memory. When your mental processing power is tied up just trying to follow the volume of information, you have no capacity left to evaluate its quality.
The Jargon Moat: We are socialized to equate complexity with intelligence. Use of impenetrable terms serves to intimidate outsiders and make them feel too “unintelligent” to question the underlying absurdity.
The Confidence Trick: In a world of uncertainty, we are hardwired to believe that “confidence equals competence”. Charismatic founders project an unshakeable certainty that overrides our internal skepticism.
Case Study: The Saylor “Strategy”
Nowhere is this “Confidence Trick” more evident than in Michael Saylor’s aptly misnamed company, Strategy (MSTR). Saylor has spent the last year spewing a narrative of a $10 million Bitcoin to an audience of “believers” who fear missing out on a digital utopia.
The reality? MSTR has plunged -53% over the past year (as of March 2026), wiping out billions of dollars in hard-earned capital from unsophisticated investors who fell for the hype. Saylor is a master of the Gish Gallop: every time the stock sees a minor “pop,” he is on television, dazzling the public with patriotic buzzwords and vague promises. Yet, he becomes a “ghost” the moment the price plunges and the “Delusion Premium” evaporates.
The Architecture of Delusion
This isn’t happening in a vacuum. It is sustained by a vast architecture of enablers. The financial press, hungry for clicks, often publishes press releases uncritically. Investment bankers and analysts, whose incentives are tied to deal flow rather than truth, produce reports that are masterclasses in framing—burying risks in footnotes while highlighting ephemeral opportunities in bold.
We see the wreckage of this everywhere: from Theranos, where jargon baffled seasoned investors into ignoring a lack of technology, to WeWork, which used creative fiction like “Community-adjusted EBITDA” to dress up a leveraged real estate business.
Truth as the Ultimate Alpha
I am writing my upcoming book, Delusional Capitalism (slated for May-June 2026), because this “Delusion Premium” is unsustainable. Bullshit has a shelf life. The reckoning comes when reality intervenes, the story collapses, and the “greater fools” are left holding the bag.
In a market saturated with garbage, the ability to see clearly is the greatest source of competitive advantage. We must demand simplicity. If an investment requires a PhD in jargon to understand, run. Don’t give it another thought. Audit the metrics: if a blizzard of growth data doesn’t translate to free cash flow, you’ve found the bullshit.
In the age of bullshit, truth isn’t just stranger than fiction—it’s the only safe place to invest.