People who talk as if they know

[cjsmith]

I have a coworker who talks as if he is an authority -- full of confidence, very firm statements -- when he doesn't have any information or experience to back it up.

Random person: "Hey, where's a good dosa restaurant?"
Him: "Restaurant A is the best."
Me: "I like Restaurant B, too."
Him: "A is way better."
Me: "Have you ever been to Restaurant B?"

No, of course; he hadn't. I had to ask him twice before he admitted it, too. So he knows when he's doing this, and he doesn't like getting caught at it.

In another hallway conversation, just now, he spouted off about flying airplanes, a subject I have some minor experience with. Now that I know he doesn't like being confronted, I stopped myself short of asking outright if he had a pilot's license. (Obviously, I'm convinced he doesn't.) I did go ahead and mention what "my flight instructor" had "taught me" about the topic "when I was getting my license". He had the grace to stop making shit up for a few minutes.

How the heck do people deal with somebody like this? Dude, you're POLLUTING THE DATA STREAM. Shut UP. But maybe I'm oversensitive about people making things up and presenting them as truth. Maybe people are smarter than I think, and there isn't any increased tendency to believe a person just because he's confident and loud. (And maybe the Easter Bunny really is ten feet tall.)

Comments

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

You must have read this (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-solnit13apr13,0,526991.story). Right?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I hadn't! An excellent treatment of the topic. Now what I'd love to know is a sort of verbal aikido for sending such an idiot flying (with his own momentum) into a brick wall.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

There's a longer version here (http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174918).

I printed it out and stuck it to the refrigerator. Seven pages in 16 pt Times New Roman.