The post is clearly a hit . <| sep |> Yeah , I don ' t think there ' s anything wrong with admitting you know . On the contrary , you then can discuss that topic in more detail and also express you fascination with it . I think , it ' s great when I tell someone about something and they have heard about it before and can talk to me about it . The reason why I brought it up isn ' t to feel smart , it ' s because I found it interesting . If someone else is interested in that topic enough to know about it as well that ' s great and not a bad thing . I have never had a bad reaction either when I tell someone I know about something they tell me about either . Maybe it ' s because I react with excitement over the topic along the lines of oh yeah , I ' ve heard about that . It ' s soooo cool how . . You can have a great conversation about something that way . I think the difference is between this and just saying yeaah , heard about that already in a bored tone . Because that shuts down any conversation .