Timeline for Why did Gilderoy try to mend Harry's arm?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
16 events
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| Jul 20, 2017 at 18:30 | comment | added | Erin Thursby | @JFA Yep, the Dunning-Kruger effect was definitely at play with the pixie incident. For that, he didn't even understand the chaos it would cause and thought it would be simple to do. For the arm though, he for certain he knew he had not done the spell "dozens of times" and was taking a gamble that it might work. Mediwizardry is noted as quite complex. | |
| Jul 20, 2017 at 14:40 | comment | added | jfa | The Dunning-Kruger effect better explains why people try complex magic while being incompetent. Being a psychopath or a sociopath do not necessarily explain that. | |
| Jul 16, 2017 at 8:20 | comment | added | marcellothearcane | @cairdcoinheringaahing lol! yep... :D | |
| Jul 15, 2017 at 22:56 | comment | added | caird coinheringaahing | @marcellothearcane there's an xkcd for everything, isn't there? | |
| Jul 15, 2017 at 7:33 | vote | accept | Magikarp Master | ||
| Jul 14, 2017 at 17:31 | comment | added | Erin Thursby | @MagikarpMaster I expanded it to include psychopath. Guy's likely a blend between sociopath and psychopath... | |
| Jul 14, 2017 at 17:29 | history | edited | Erin Thursby | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jul 14, 2017 at 17:14 | comment | added | Erin Thursby | @MagikarpMaster I don't think he really does believe his own lies. Hence the division--when it puts someone else at risk, he's happy to try it. When it puts him at risk, he won't do it. As for blowing his cover--he's gotten away with it for so long and so successfully--there are plenty of other "achievements" he can coast on if he happens to be unsuccessful. He counts on his ability to bullsh*t. If there's one thing he does believe, it's that people WANT to believe him, and that he's more clever than they are. | |
| Jul 14, 2017 at 8:12 | comment | added | Kallum Tanton | @Draco18s "Catch Me If You Can" was my first thought too, but I do agree with Erin that the implementations of their facades were very different. Plus their motives (and thus the reasoning behind their lies) were different too; Frank was a moral man trying to "earn" back what is family lost. Gilderoy was merely trying to improve his own public standing, with no (or very loose) moral boundaries. | |
| Jul 14, 2017 at 7:14 | comment | added | Magikarp Master | But if Lockhart believed his own lies, why would he not rush into the chamber and take on the Basilisk? At that stage in the story he goes from being bungling to keenly aware of his limitations in a matter of seconds. It just seems weird that a successful conman would be so willing to blow his cover. | |
| Jul 13, 2017 at 20:57 | comment | added | RichS | Or maybe Gilderoy Lockhart believes in his own competence because he believes his own lies. I read somewhere that the people that sociopaths deceive the most are themselves. Wish I could find that link right now. | |
| Jul 13, 2017 at 20:07 | comment | added | Draco18s no longer trusts SE | @ErinThursby Oh sure, totally. I only mentioned it as it got turned into a rather well known book and movie. Ie. immediately recognizable to most and a "thing to go get" for others. Frank played it smart, not everyone does. | |
| Jul 13, 2017 at 19:58 | comment | added | marcellothearcane | Obligatory XKCD - xkcd.com/699 | |
| Jul 13, 2017 at 19:54 | comment | added | Erin Thursby | @Draco18s The difference is Frank was not really a sociopath. And if you pass the bar, you've got at least a base of competence. And in the doctor bit, he actually let other people do most of the work (as a supervisor) and left when he realized it might kill/harm folk. As a pilot he immediately engaged the autopilot when he was offered the controls on a deadhead flight. But there have been con artists who HAVE killed people. The fake doctor I mentioned actually had children die in his care because of his lack of training. | |
| Jul 13, 2017 at 18:21 | comment | added | Draco18s no longer trusts SE | See also: Catch Me If You Can which is a story about such a con artist. Heck, pretending to be a doctor was one of the things he did. There's a rather famous line at the end about how he managed to pass the bar exam so he could pretend to be a lawyer. | |
| Jul 13, 2017 at 16:48 | history | answered | Erin Thursby | CC BY-SA 3.0 |