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recently a new collegue started to work for the IT company I work for. He seems quite polite and nice but when it comes to lunch time he very often brags and - for lack of a better word - talks utter bull****. He does this to a point where his statements become cringy, like:

I rarely use RAM anymore because SSDs are nearly as fast these days.

or

I run my virtual machines on my GPU only, because they're faster than CPUs.

or

I could easily hack this WiFi network but just don't do it because it's illegal.

(It was a WPA2 secured WiFi).

Basically he seems to have no clue about technical background but claims that he knows a shortcut for every problem. The problem is that he talks OBVIOUS nonsense and that EVERYONE knows it. My other collegues and I avoid him more and more but there's this awkward tension in the room when he comes around and brags again. When we ask about technical details he switches the topic pretty fast or answers even more nonsense.

My question is: Should we let him know somehow or should we just keep ignoring it? The team has never talked about it openly but there are many clues that everyone knows what's going on.

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    if it's obvious that it's nonsense and everyone knows it what's the problem? Are you worried his nonsense is going to affect your work? Or is it just that he's annoying?
    – jcm
    Oct 13, 2018 at 23:13
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    Someone should buy a pertinent Dilbert cartoon book and put on his table. That definitely is a known phenomenon. Enjoy it while it lasts.
    – Captain Emacs
    Oct 14, 2018 at 0:50
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    @jcm the problem is that he won't stop and thus "block" the time for meaningful conversation. Now that you ask, the problem is more that he is pushy and that he wants us to keep interacting with him (rather than what he actually talks about).
    – softwareengineer783
    Oct 14, 2018 at 10:07

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My other collegues and I avoid him more and more but there's this awkward tension in the room when he comes around and brags again. When we ask about technical details he switches the topic pretty fast or answers even more nonsense.

My question is: Should we let him know somehow or should we just keep ignoring it?

Keep ignoring it.

He'll either quickly get the message due to the avoidance and tension, or he won't. He'll learn that his nonsense isn't getting him anywhere either way.

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As the previous answer has pointed out, you can either ignore him or you can baffle him with your own BS.

Example:

Him: I run my virtual machines on my GPU only, because they're faster than CPUs.

You: But how did you deal with the heat problem that comes with virtual machine vector calculation and the chip creep that comes with it?

He'll either realise he's been caught in his own nonsense or he'll try to bluff his way out and create good entertainment. Either is a win.

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    He will definitely try to BS his way out. I've seen the type. He will grasp onto anything that will pop in his head at the time and convince himself that, not only he knows a lot more than you do, but his response has proven as much - at least to him. Don't argue with Dunning Kruger, it will only drive you mad.
    – rath
    Oct 15, 2018 at 10:14
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    @rath Unless of course it is the OP that is suffering from Dunning Kruger and the new colleague is crazy .. crazy like a fox!
    – Peter M
    Oct 15, 2018 at 11:11

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