Post by kaian on Feb 2, 2009 13:05:06 GMT -6
Now, I realize that I have a solid know-it-all control freak streak, but I try to tone it down when I'm around people who don't know me very well and might interpret my pretentiousness and bossiness as being an asshole. So this rant is a little tongue-in-cheek.
The point is, this school year (both semesters) has been plagued by the presence of one asshole know-it-all control freak in particular. He was in two of my classes last semester, and made his presence very noticeable in both by interrupting the professors on a daily basis in order to interject his opinions or VERY trivial details into their lectures. He's in one of my classes again this semester - Psychological Research Methods, a big assload of busywork and stuff we've all learned in middle school, by the way, but it's required - and does the exact same thing. The lecturer will be going through his spiel, everyone's nice and quiet and writing down their notes, and along this guy comes, interrupting and protesting his way through each class. I wouldn't mind so much if he actually had INTERESTING or PERTINENT points to make, but no. It's always something completely random and seemingly pointless save for trying to make him look smart.
"....and psychologists really are focused on the study of all human behaviors, and-"
"But what about economists?"
"...Excuse me?"
"Well, I'm sure everyone here knows that economists study human behavior as it pertains to supply and demand, and... I just think you're oversimplifying matters by saying that only psychologists study behavior."
"Well, I didn't say that, actually. Let's move on."
Or
"Hypotheses are considered untestable when the concepts are poorly worded, the hypothesis is circular as in explaining ADD in terms of someone's inability to concentrate, or if it involves non-scientific or nonplausible ideas, such as 'The subject is prone to antisocial actions because he's been corrupted by the devil."
"Well, that's not exactly true, because you have to take Freud and Jung into account."
"Well yes, psychoanalysis and analytical psychology have been known to incorporate spiritual archetypes or symbols into their explanations of behaviors, but that's not what--"
"--Because you know, you can't just say that the devil has no influence over people's actions. Many people would say that's a legitimate reason for erratic or antisocial behavior, especially in a symbolic nature."
"Yes, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about hypotheses in scientific studies. The devil is not something we can measure in a lab setting."
He just makes me so mad! Every time he speaks up, audible groans can be heard throughout the lecture hall. He's such an asshole, but I don't think he realizes it. I think he thinks that he's being helpful or enlightening or something, or maybe he's trying to "bring the professor down a peg" or something. I don't know, but whatever his reasons, they're unnecessary and not wanted.
He's in my lab session too, and he does the same thing. We had to split into groups for our semester-long research project, so I got together with a couple of other people and we started talking about different subjects we might be interested in studying. Then Asshole Know-it-All Control Freak comes along (no one had wanted to pair up with him, for obvious reasons, and he was alone." He looks at us, we cringe, and he swaggers over and says, "You three look like great candidates for my group."
HIS group? Excuse me? Then he sits down with us, doesn't even give us a chance to say okay (or "fuck off"), and starts telling us what we're going to be studying and who will be in charge of what and our methods and everything. It was such bullshit. THe other girl in the group doesn't speak very good English, and she just kind of looked to the rest of us for help. The other guy in the group just shook his head and said, "Whatever, man" but didn't protest or anything. I tried to include the others and be all, "Well, we're all trying to figure out some subject that we're all interested in, something that'll be easy to test and for all of us to write about. Let's pool our ideas together and brainstorm," and he keeps interrupting me, going, "No, see, here's what you will do - Now, I know the Mozart Effect is a bunch of hooey, but I really think that if we bring our subjects into a strictly controlled lab setting and provide them with the proper materials, we can come to a conclusion once and for all. All we have to do is..."
It drives me nuts. And turns out the other guy in the group switched classes, so now he can't be in our group anymore. Lucky. The girl is very nice, but it's already difficult to work with her because of the language barrier (I wish my Korean was better). And the Asshole Know-It-All Control Freak guy? Impossible. I wish I could switch classes too, but the rest of them are filled up. And the other groups are at their max number of members, and I'd feel bad leaving that girl with the asshole dude. It's no use being assertive with him; he just talks over me. He also uses big words, lots of technical jargon and bullshit terms, that I have to define and clarify for the girl so she can understand them. This is such a waste of time.
It's been a while since I've blindly, unwaveringly, utterly HATED a person with every cell in my body. This is it. I want to ram my boots into his teeth.
The point is, this school year (both semesters) has been plagued by the presence of one asshole know-it-all control freak in particular. He was in two of my classes last semester, and made his presence very noticeable in both by interrupting the professors on a daily basis in order to interject his opinions or VERY trivial details into their lectures. He's in one of my classes again this semester - Psychological Research Methods, a big assload of busywork and stuff we've all learned in middle school, by the way, but it's required - and does the exact same thing. The lecturer will be going through his spiel, everyone's nice and quiet and writing down their notes, and along this guy comes, interrupting and protesting his way through each class. I wouldn't mind so much if he actually had INTERESTING or PERTINENT points to make, but no. It's always something completely random and seemingly pointless save for trying to make him look smart.
"....and psychologists really are focused on the study of all human behaviors, and-"
"But what about economists?"
"...Excuse me?"
"Well, I'm sure everyone here knows that economists study human behavior as it pertains to supply and demand, and... I just think you're oversimplifying matters by saying that only psychologists study behavior."
"Well, I didn't say that, actually. Let's move on."
Or
"Hypotheses are considered untestable when the concepts are poorly worded, the hypothesis is circular as in explaining ADD in terms of someone's inability to concentrate, or if it involves non-scientific or nonplausible ideas, such as 'The subject is prone to antisocial actions because he's been corrupted by the devil."
"Well, that's not exactly true, because you have to take Freud and Jung into account."
"Well yes, psychoanalysis and analytical psychology have been known to incorporate spiritual archetypes or symbols into their explanations of behaviors, but that's not what--"
"--Because you know, you can't just say that the devil has no influence over people's actions. Many people would say that's a legitimate reason for erratic or antisocial behavior, especially in a symbolic nature."
"Yes, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about hypotheses in scientific studies. The devil is not something we can measure in a lab setting."
He just makes me so mad! Every time he speaks up, audible groans can be heard throughout the lecture hall. He's such an asshole, but I don't think he realizes it. I think he thinks that he's being helpful or enlightening or something, or maybe he's trying to "bring the professor down a peg" or something. I don't know, but whatever his reasons, they're unnecessary and not wanted.
He's in my lab session too, and he does the same thing. We had to split into groups for our semester-long research project, so I got together with a couple of other people and we started talking about different subjects we might be interested in studying. Then Asshole Know-it-All Control Freak comes along (no one had wanted to pair up with him, for obvious reasons, and he was alone." He looks at us, we cringe, and he swaggers over and says, "You three look like great candidates for my group."
HIS group? Excuse me? Then he sits down with us, doesn't even give us a chance to say okay (or "fuck off"), and starts telling us what we're going to be studying and who will be in charge of what and our methods and everything. It was such bullshit. THe other girl in the group doesn't speak very good English, and she just kind of looked to the rest of us for help. The other guy in the group just shook his head and said, "Whatever, man" but didn't protest or anything. I tried to include the others and be all, "Well, we're all trying to figure out some subject that we're all interested in, something that'll be easy to test and for all of us to write about. Let's pool our ideas together and brainstorm," and he keeps interrupting me, going, "No, see, here's what you will do - Now, I know the Mozart Effect is a bunch of hooey, but I really think that if we bring our subjects into a strictly controlled lab setting and provide them with the proper materials, we can come to a conclusion once and for all. All we have to do is..."
It drives me nuts. And turns out the other guy in the group switched classes, so now he can't be in our group anymore. Lucky. The girl is very nice, but it's already difficult to work with her because of the language barrier (I wish my Korean was better). And the Asshole Know-It-All Control Freak guy? Impossible. I wish I could switch classes too, but the rest of them are filled up. And the other groups are at their max number of members, and I'd feel bad leaving that girl with the asshole dude. It's no use being assertive with him; he just talks over me. He also uses big words, lots of technical jargon and bullshit terms, that I have to define and clarify for the girl so she can understand them. This is such a waste of time.
It's been a while since I've blindly, unwaveringly, utterly HATED a person with every cell in my body. This is it. I want to ram my boots into his teeth.