There are a lot of liars in the world — but even more common than lies are mistaken assumptions. Not every falsehood is a deliberate deception. Many of the things we get wrong come from ideas we never thought to question.
A well-calibrated BS detector doesn’t doesn’t only look for lies — it detects lazy thinking and hidden assumptions. It picks up on claims that feel true but rest on shaky foundations. And the best way to fine-tune that meter is to challenge assumptions directly.
Here’s a list of questions that should be top of mind to help you uncover BS.
What if the opposite is true?
At what cost?
As compared to what alternative?
Who pays for that?
What’s the opportunity cost?
How would we know if it’s worth it?
What happens next?
What problem are we actually solving?
What constraints are we ignoring?
What’s the baseline?
Has anyone tried this before?
How do our peers do it?
What would success look like, and how will we measure it?
What if we’ve reversed cause and effect?
What evidence would change our assumption?
What are we treating as a fact that’s really just a guess?
Who benefits if we believe this / take this action?
What would failure look like?
Is this the best use of our time/resources right now?
What does “good enough” mean here?
Why now?
Why us?
What’s the end goal?
If this worked perfectly, what would change?
If we didn’t do this, what would happen?
What are we assuming?
How does it change with a different set of assumptions?
Have you thought this through?
Does this undermine something else we believe or do?