
Lies are not the greatest enemy of the truth, according to the philosopher Harry Frankfurt. Bullshit is worse.
As he explained in his classic essay On Bullshit (1986), a liar and a truth teller are playing the same game, just on opposite sides. Each responds to facts as they understand them and either accepts or rejects the authority of truth. But a bullshitter ignores these demands altogether. “He does not reject the authority of truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.” Such a person wants to convince others, irrespective of the facts.