A "crank" is a very specific type of person, who will not heed any constructive criticism and in fact deliberately avoids resources from the establishment. Any

A "crank" is a very specific type of person, who will not heed any constructive criticism and in fact deliberately avoids resources from the establishment. Any dismissal is viewed as a conspiracy by the establishment to keep their brilliant ideas from dismantling the establishment's sacred cows. Like concern trolls, their goal is seemingly to waste the time and energy of anyone willing to listen or engage, except they're not doing it wittingly, so you just wind up feeling like a jerk when you inevitably have to ignore their latest 20-page ramble and get some real work done.