The Expert Syndrome.
I made up this syndrome this morning. I'm well aware it's not so original, and a quick check online confirmed that others have used this label. However, the articles I found usually focus on something similar to the Dunning-Kruger Effect, people who overestimate their own ability and knowledge.
The one that I experience is slightly different. It is the need to prove or show that I am the expert in the room.
And sure, because my ignorance is invisible to me, I am most probably also overestimating my ability and knowledge.
Yet, this syndrome manifests in me more often when I'm talking about subjects I am knowledgeable about.
For its own nature, it's hard for me to realize when I'm getting trapped in the Expert Syndrom. In short, when I'm being annoying.
I became aware of it because I realized how annoying I find it when someone else is being the expert in the room. And as they say, the things we dislike most in others are the ones we like least in ourselves.
The truth is that reality is unknowable. So, as much as I may know about something, I'll never know it all. And I'll never know how much I don't know. But anytime I'm "doing" the expert, I'm wasting an opportunity to expand my perspective.
So, I'm doing my best to catch myself in the moment. The best trick I've learned so far when the Expert Syndrome arises is to shut up and listen. I just go silent for a while until the desire to be the expert fades away, and I can be fully present again.