Cranks

[DeusxMac]

1. Cranks overestimate their own knowledge and ability, and underestimate that of acknowledged experts.

2. Cranks insist that their alleged discoveries are urgently important.

3. Cranks rarely, if ever, acknowledge any error, no matter how trivial.

4. Cranks love to talk about their own beliefs, often in inappropriate social situations, but they tend to be bad listeners, being uninterested in anyone else's experience or opinions.


In addition, many cranks:

• Seriously misunderstand the mainstream opinion to which they believe that they are objecting,

• Stress that they have been working out their ideas for many decades, and claim that this fact alone entails that their belief cannot be dismissed as resting upon some simple error,

• Claim that their ideas are being suppressed, typically by secret intelligence organizations, mainstream science, powerful business interests, or other groups which, they allege, are terrified by the possibility of their revolutionary insights becoming widely known


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_(pers..._of_cranks

[cbelt3]

They can also build interesting structures whilst going around in illogical circles. ;-)

[Dennis S]

Most cranks I have known are old white men for some reason. Instead of pronouncing "Nazi" as "not-see", they say either "nazz-ee" or "nazz-eye." (Nothing to do with Nazis, per se, but just something I noticed.)

[RgrF]

...and here I was looking forward to becoming a cranky old man (get off my forum kid!).