Top Dog, Underdog

by Martha Beck

The "Answer for Everything" Reflex

Some know-it-alls may be so rabidly committed to displaying fact-based dominance that they claim expertise about things they have no possibility of knowing, like this:

Ordinary person: I have this friend, Raoul, and he's been driving me nuts, because—

Know-it-all: I know. Totally into the machismo thing.

Ordinary person: But…you've never met Raoul.

Know-it-all: Oh, honey, I know all about Latin men.

Ordinary person: Raoul is Swedish.

Know-it-all: I knew that.

This strain of know-it-all has answers for every question except: "How the hell do you presume to know that?"…