Freaking fracking
I pass a student of mine standing at a table with a petition.
"Hey Professor, would you like to sign an anti-fracking petition?"
"No, I don't really know anything about it."
"What do you mean?" He looked dumbfounded.
"Well, I would need to read up on it for a while before I signed any petition, either for or against it."
"Oh, I can tell you: it's bad!"
Given the amount of studying that my students do, I would be willing to bet that he knew no more about the subject than I know. But he made up for that with lots of extra certainty.
"Hey Professor, would you like to sign an anti-fracking petition?"
"No, I don't really know anything about it."
"What do you mean?" He looked dumbfounded.
"Well, I would need to read up on it for a while before I signed any petition, either for or against it."
"Oh, I can tell you: it's bad!"
Given the amount of studying that my students do, I would be willing to bet that he knew no more about the subject than I know. But he made up for that with lots of extra certainty.
You're back at LVMI?
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteI've run into the same situation many times myself.
ReplyDeleteMe: I don't understand X.
Them: I do understand X.
Me: Oh, cool, then you can answer these questions I have about it [...].
Them: Uh, I have no idea.
Me: Well, what do you know about X?
Them: [...]
Me: I already know all that ...