so long as you can’t change their notions of status there is nothing you can do to communicate “you are fundamentally wrong about how this works” without them hearing it as “I don’t realize how far out of my depth I am right now”.
But from the other direction, it seems quite possible to hear what the wrong-status person says about how I’m wrong. So “nothing you can do” seems excessive. Perhaps politeness often suffices, for arguments that would be accepted when delivered by an appropriate-status person, as long as you are being heard at all.
But from the other direction, it seems quite possible to hear what the wrong-status person says about how I’m wrong. So “nothing you can do” seems excessive. Perhaps politeness often suffices, for arguments that would be accepted when delivered by an appropriate-status person, as long as you are being heard at all.