How to spot (and dismiss) the know-it-all
December 20 2009, 8:10 AM
I'm reading The Polar Express with my son, and one of the characters in it
is The Know-It-All (KIA). Like all KIAs, he's annoying. I was struck by
that again this morning when i read a review of Avatar by a well informed
blogger and i thought: a-ha! He's a KIA too. First off KIAs act like they actually do know it all. Pick a topic, they
have a comment. Worst though, they think that their comment is good. They
don't say: i don't know much about cooking, but here's'my opinion. No, they
will say: here's'the best way to make coq au vin or rib eye steak or
minestrone. There's'no acknowledgement of their limits. Secondly they tend to minimize the good in something in order to criticize
something that they have an opinion on. Why? Well, if they to acknowledge
all the good in something, it dilutes their comment and diminishes them. So the two ways to dismiss the KIA is to first highlight that they don't
know much about a topic. A few questions can hightlight that. Second, get
them to talk about the overall merits of something. Again, questions can do
that. This may make the KIA unhappy and they may try to turn the tables on you.
You can try a number of approaches here. If you know alot more on the topic
than the KIA, you can demonstrate it. This can be effective. Or you can
just say: hey, i was just asking you some questions..no need to get
defensive.
is The Know-It-All (KIA). Like all KIAs, he's annoying. I was struck by
that again this morning when i read a review of Avatar by a well informed
blogger and i thought: a-ha! He's a KIA too. First off KIAs act like they actually do know it all. Pick a topic, they
have a comment. Worst though, they think that their comment is good. They
don't say: i don't know much about cooking, but here's'my opinion. No, they
will say: here's'the best way to make coq au vin or rib eye steak or
minestrone. There's'no acknowledgement of their limits. Secondly they tend to minimize the good in something in order to criticize
something that they have an opinion on. Why? Well, if they to acknowledge
all the good in something, it dilutes their comment and diminishes them. So the two ways to dismiss the KIA is to first highlight that they don't
know much about a topic. A few questions can hightlight that. Second, get
them to talk about the overall merits of something. Again, questions can do
that. This may make the KIA unhappy and they may try to turn the tables on you.
You can try a number of approaches here. If you know alot more on the topic
than the KIA, you can demonstrate it. This can be effective. Or you can
just say: hey, i was just asking you some questions..no need to get
defensive.
175 views and 2 responses
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Dec 21 2009, 10:28 AMAaron Kim responded:Hey Bernie. I'm enjoying your Posterous a lot. Your blogs and tweets typically tell me "what Bernie is interested at", or "what Bernie is doing", but your Posterous entries typically give me "what Bernie thinks". Good stuff.
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Dec 21 2009, 12:07 PMBernie Michalik responded:Thanks, Aaron!
I like the "notebook" aspect of posterous. I also like that I can post here outside my main blog, which also goes into my Facebook and is read by alot of people (relatively speaking). This is read by few people, which makes me more comfortable.