The funny thing about this is that it's almost completely sidestepping the "win the conversation" game anyway. Frequently, asking questions in feigned ignorance is genuinely educational, not just an effective ploy for shutting down opposition. In fact, you can gain lots of "cred" by not deigning to play stupid zero-sum conversational status games and instead trying to make everyone involved look good.

A real master figures out how to win without making someone else lose.