Additionally, writes Potter, “If you are lucky enough to find a man who still says, ‘I don’t know about pictures, but I know what I like,’ point out to him that because he does not know about pictures he does not know what he likes.” This is snooty, though effective, and can additionally be used to good effect in political conversations where people routinely employ the “I don’t know much about X, but I know what I believe…” gambit. Conversely, if you happen to be the one who doesn’t know anything but knows what he likes, it’s wise to follow Kingsley Amis’s improvement upon Potter’s gambit for faking wine mastery, from the former’s book Everyday Drinking. As soon as your opponent begins showing knowledge of anything, wine or otherwise, “Shush everyone else and say, ‘Listen chaps, here’s a chance for us all to learn something. Carry on, Percy.’” It is absolutely impossible to come off as impressive after someone does that to you. (In his book Class, the writer Paul Fussell suggests calling any highly regarded professor you happen to meet a “famous educator,” which should yield a similarly chilling effect.)
Via ascendingcoherence/Jaime on Reader.
