## Summary > *"The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it."* Brandolini's Law is an adage that describes the asymmetry between the amount of time required to spread misinformation and the amount of time required to debunk it. It has also been called the *"Bullshit Asymmetry Principle."* Misinformation is powerful because it does not need to comport with the truth, and thus can be constructed using any number of fallacious arguments or priors, especially those which are unfalsifiable. In order to fully deconstruct a misinformed claim, one must tackle a nigh-infinite regress of previous beliefs in a recursive fashion; many of these beliefs cut so deep into a given worldview that one can no longer question them without causing an emotional response and thus [[Civility Abuse|looking unreasonable.]] Those spreading intentional misinformation (generally called *disinformation*) can weaponize this problem by throwing out an unreasonable number of tangential claims or reacting with indignation to valid rebuttals. A particularly tricky form of misinformation can be found in laypeople making claims on subjects on which they are unqualified to speak. These claims are usually repeated, often being paraphrased incorrectly, from what may or [[Appeal to False Authority|may not]] be a valid source (perhaps a scientist or medical doctor), and thus carry the credibility of the original source but not its basis in domain expertise which would otherwise leave it open to challenge. This type of argument, to the extent that can be debunked at all, requires a significant amount of work to either disestablish trust in a false authority, or to correct the misunderstanding of a claim by a trustworthy one. Similar sentiments have been expressed throughout history; one quote which is [commonly and incorrectly attributed](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/07/13/truth/) to Mark Twain, but whose attribution is unknown, states: *"A lie can travel around the world while the truth is still lacing up its boots."* This is slightly different in that it describes the tendency of misinformation to *spread* faster, rather than the fact that it can be more briefly described, but its brevity is certainly a cornerstone of its ability to propagate. ## History Brandolini's Law is named after Alberto Brandolini, who based it on the book *"Thinking, Fast and Slow"* by Daniel Kahneman, and a talk show appearance featuring Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and journalist Marco Travaglio.[^1] [^1]: Per [Wikipedia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law)