Did you ever meet Condescending Guy? CG is an autodidact or someone who dropped out of a PhD program 20 years ago. (Condescending Gal is a different story; I have limited experience of her so I cannot comment at length.) Condescending Guy knows more than you about every possible subject--except that he doesn't. He has read some popular science books; he'll explain how Stephen Pinker has disproven feminism. He thinks there's something called "postmodernism." He will answer a profound question in a banal way. He might swear by Strunk & White! He'll patiently set you straight on any number of matters. If he is a poet, his own poetry is "carefully crafted" and he'll warn you against clichés. He revises every poem 100 times but it is still a piece of wood. He'll earnestly recommend a book by Robert Pinsky or Billy Collins to you. He'll tell you why bloggers don't match up to the New York Times Book Review.