#Internet pet peeve #8,467: exchanges of #knowledge that turn into dick-waving contests.

Like most people, I know a lot about a few things, a fair amount about a fair number of things, and a little about a lot of things. When I encounter someone who knows more about a particular thing than I do, I try to #learn from them. When I encounter someone who knows less about a particular thing than I do, and who wants to learn from me, I'm happy to babble at them. You may have noticed.

When I encounter someone who knows a lot about one aspect of a thing we're both interested in, and l know a lot about another aspect ... at its best, that's when magic happens. We each share our specialized knowledge, using it to fill gaps in the other's knowledge, and both walk away knowing much more than when we started.

All too often, though, it turns into an attempt to show which one knows more overall. Never mind that you may know more than I do about one particular part of this thing: I know more than you do about the thing as a whole, so your job is to sit at my feet and learn #wisdom! Or maybe I really don't, but I'm going to make sure I tell you I do, and mock you if you question my superior knowledge in any way.

For all its sins, the internet is the best medium ever invented for people all over the world to share what they know, and to learn what others know. I've lost most of my idealism about it, as has anyone with sense, but there are times when it still sparks that old wonder. When I think I'm in the middle of one of those pure meetings of minds it was always supposed to promise—well, it's no fun to find out I'm wrong.

And yes, it's mostly men doing this. Not completely, but 90% or more in my experience. Dude, just sit at home with your tape measure if that's what makes you happy. There's really no need to tell everyone else about it.