Plausible, with the slight exception it was on purpose, and breaking peoples balls on their mystical folk understandings of why they think they're good is very

Plausible, with the slight exception it was on purpose, and breaking peoples balls on their mystical folk understandings of why they think they're good is very much a competitive strategy. See sports psychology for examples. The way to bullshit a bullshitter is to seize the initiative and give them an out where they save face. Nothing brilliant, but it's funny, and standard in sales. A bit of charisma goes a long way. I've absolutely been the mark in other situations, but that one, I thought it was intentional enough to share.:)