Solioonensius

There have been several strange instances over the past week wherein colleagues have attempted, at length and with great passion, to engage me in arguments while seemingly unaware that their own position is untenable.

One example (of several) from today:

A man I've worked with for several years walks into my office and begins by asking my advice on a new applicant to music-prison. According to my colleague, the applicant is a transfer student, and wants to begin his college career anew, beginning from the beginning, and taking all of his coursework over again.

My colleague is being circuitous from the get-go, and it takes him a few minutes to finally tell me that the applicant intends to lie on his application, by claiming he's never attended college before. Actually, he doesn't tell me - based on what clues I can gather from his odd behavior, I have to guess.

After this - the real reason he came to see me in the first place - is revealed, he begins to argue that:
1. there's nothing wrong with an applicant lying on an application; and
2. nobody will find out anyway.

But of course these two lines of reasoning don't go together.

Here's how it goes:

Sabitathica: You're doing him a disservice by advising him to do this.
Colleague (aggressive): Oh yeah? Who's gonna know? What, are they gonna call all the colleges and universities in the whole country and ask if they've ever had a student by this guy's name?
Sabitathica: That's ridiculous.
Colleague: Exactly - so no one will ever find out!
Sabitathica: This is a mistake.
Colleague: Why?
Sabitathica (pause): Why would he lie?
Colleague: He's not lying.
Sabitathica (pause): I don't know what you mean by that.
Colleague (voice rising): Look, if he was claiming to have taken more classes than he really had, that would be lying. But he's not. He's claiming to have taken less classes! So it's not lying!
Sabitathica: It's lying either way.
Colleague (heated now): Why would anybody care? It's not like he's trying to get away with something!
Sabitathica: Of course he is.
Colleague: No, he's not!
Sabitathica: Look, you asked my advice. I'm giving it to you. This is a mistake and you should absolutely not advise him to do this.
Colleague (shouting now): What's the big deal? Who would know? Who would even care?
Sabitathica: You should care.
Colleague: I should care? Why? Why should I care?
Sabitathica: Because if he was expelled from his last school due to a disciplinary issue, that will appear on his transcript. The university would need to be aware of that. And the same goes if he was dismissed for academic reasons.
Colleague: But he just wants to take all his coursework again! What's the matter with him wanting to do that?

There was more of this, in much the same vein, until we were interrupted by another (angry) colleague of mine, who at that moment stormed into my office, made a quipy, petulant remark, and then stormed out again.

Like I said, this nonsense has been happening a lot over the past week.