It can be quite difficult to tell the difference between a fool and someone assuming such a role. The two are not mutually exclusive, surprisingly enough.
We are having a somewhat similar problem with a poster in a JFK Conspiracy thread on ISF. He displays all the classic tells of Dunning-Kruger Effect... he is convinced he knows everything about everything, and more than anyone else does on any given subject. Further, he simply cannot be convinced that he is wrong, and holds on to long debunked ideas. Exhibitors of Dunning Kruger cannot bear the idea that someone else might have more knowledge on any subject than they do, so when they realise they have encountered a bona-fide expert on a subject of discussion, they will attack that expert's knowledge as irrelevant and meaningless, and attempt to belittle them by making them out to be obsessed in that subject field. Anyone who dares to point out he is wrong is dealt with in a dismissive and often rude and demeaning manner.
TimFinch exhibits exactly the same characteristics....
- When he was out of his depth with graphs and mathematics, he attacked those who knew he was wrong and knew what they were talking about.
- When he showed an inability to understand a 3D model of orbital mechanics, he professed a preference for using 2D, and attacked the idea of 3D as too complex (claiming that if things could not be explained simply, then you didn't understand the subject.... (TimFinch thought he could explain things with 2D, therefore, in his mind, he understood better than those who insisted on the 3D view)
IME, this is classic DK behaviour, and if it looks familiar, it is... The Blunder and Adrian van Weereld (AWE130) are other examples of people exhibiting DK Effect