MSD

Not very often. I used to be an arrogant braggart since my teachers in primary schools were always telling me how smart I was, and when I realized that a: being smart isn't everything and b: nobody likes a braggart, I worked at not being that guy. I also studied communications and intend to go to grad school focusing in persuasion, so I have a pretty good fundamental understanding of how to persuade people without coming across as pushy. The big thing is that nobody is open to being flat-out told "you're wrong." I find a good way to get people thinking about something is to ask them questions, get them explaining what they believe. Once they break it down, you can express doubts and expose minor flaws, and get an intellectual conversation going. Go bit by bit, and give them reasons to doubt their own belief and you can help them figure it out. If you help someone figure something out, they feel smarter, if you prove them wrong, they feel belittled. I guess it's simple psychology when you boil it down.

Of course, everything has its true believers who won't budge and will dismiss all evidence to the contrary. The only thing they can do is lash out at people, even when proven wrong. The funniest example is right here, the clip that changed my opinion of Criss Angel for the better.