Correcting people that you don't know

[gusmahler]

What do you do when you're around people that you don't know and they start talking about things that are completely wrong?

I was at a kid's birthday party the other day, playing with my daughter. The guys next to me were talking about going to Vegas. One of them was talking about his fool-proof roulette strategy--since the house advantage stems from the 0 and 00, his strategy is to only bet 0 and 00. The odd thing is that he did know what the house advantage was and where it comes from. But I have no idea how he thought that betting 0 and 00 only would result in a winning session for him.

If it were people I knew, I would have corrected his thinking. But since I did not know him (and for all I know, he could have been joking), I didn't say anything.

How do you react to things like this? It seems like, when I do interject myself by correcting others, they think of me as some kind of annoying know-it-all.

[Golden_Rhino]

Meh, let him be dumb. You aint his dad, you don't owe him a life lesson.

[Johnny Drama]

start your own casino at home, and include "0", "00", and "000" spaces

[einbert]

People that profess their own stupidity like this are usually too dumb to be corrected, and it is silly to try to debate rationally with such a person. Correcting him will probably hurt relations between the two of you and possibly make you look like a douchebag.

I would say "wow, man, that's awesome. I am going to use that next time I'm in Vegas!" Okay maybe try to sound a little less patronizing but basically, correcting people for their stupidity is just not worth it.

[Alobar]

I generally just ignore it unless what they are talking about is somehow going to effect someone else who is taking their statements seriously. Or if the person whos actually saying it could get harmed or injured if if he follows his own statements.

[bwana devil]

[ QUOTE ]
Correcting people whom you don't know

[/ QUOTE ]

fyp

[Peter Harris]

[ QUOTE ]
Correcting people who you don't know

[/ QUOTE ]

fyfyp

[Johnny Drama]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Correcting people who you don't know

[/ QUOTE ]

fyfyp

[/ QUOTE ]
no

[BradleyT]

I usually just bite my tongue and add another roman numeral in my notepad of people in the world that I'm smarter than.

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
People that profess their own stupidity like this are usually too dumb to be corrected, and it is silly to try to debate rationally with such a person. Correcting him will probably hurt relations between the two of you and possibly make you look like a douchebag.


[/ QUOTE ]Thing is, we have no relations, I had never met the guy before today.

If it were something easier to explain, I would have corrected him. If he said, "Hank Aaron had 757 home runs," I would have said something. But since it was something that would require some explaining, I decided not to say anything.

My wife thinks it is weird that I don't correct people in these circumstances. She didn't actually hear this conversation, but heard a conversation a few years ago where the participants were discussing why birds on an electric wire don't get electrocuted. After the party, my wife asked if I knew why. I said yes, but I didn't feel like explaining the concepts of electric potential.