The Dunning-Kruger effect: why fools don't realize they are just that.

[sayvara]

Ever found yourself in one or all of the following situations:

- Watching a show like American Idol, BGT or similar and bursting out "WTF?! Doesn't (s)he realize (s)he's totally untalented?!"

- Debating with someone who for sake of saving his/her own life couldn't realize their arguments are nonsense, thinking "Don't you see how stupid those things you are saying are?"

- Seeing someone to the hospital after their own "creative" idea caused them the injury, asking them "Didn't you see how stupid that was?!"

The answer is: no... they didn't. Because the same quality you need to make it right, is the same you use to judge and assess whether it's good or not. This is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.



So if you're incompetent, untalanted or just plain dumb you don't have what it takes to know the difference between competence, talent or intelligence and their respective opposites either.

Now this begs the question: how do you know if you yourself are dumb since - in case you are - you can't know it?

Well here's an easy test: if you occasionally find that some individuals are idiots... chances are good you are right and they are Dunning-Kruger victims.

If you however often find yourself thinking everyone else but you are idiots... well... then you should be wary.

/S

 

[Shifty]

So, Michael Scott for example.

 

[sayvara]

So, Michael Scott for example.

Never seen The Office but from the description in the WP article... yeah, that seems about right.

/S

 

[maildude]

I have a twenty in my wallet.

 

[Hot Mega]

Ever found yourself in one or all of the following situations:

- Watching a show like American Idol, BGT or similar and bursting out "WTF?! Doesn't (s)he realize (s)he's totally untalented?!"

- Debating with someone who for sake of saving his/her own life couldn't realize their arguments are nonsense, thinking "Don't you see how stupid those things you are saying are?"

- Seeing someone to the hospital after their own "creative" idea caused them the injury, asking them "Didn't you see how stupid that was?!"

The answer is: no... they didn't. Because the same quality you need to make it right, is the same you use to judge and assess whether it's good or not. This is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.



So if you're incompetent, untalanted or just plain dumb you don't have what it takes to know the difference between competence, talent or intelligence and their respective opposites either.

Now this begs the question: how do you know if you yourself are dumb since - in case you are - you can't know it?

Well here's an easy test: if you occasionally find that some individuals are idiots... chances are good you are right and they are Dunning-Kruger victims.

If you however often find yourself thinking everyone else but you are idiots... well... then you should be wary.

/S

You mean like 99 pct. of IT geeks?

 

[Supafly]

I can't fully subscribe to that theory. I have worked with various persons in my jobs, and in several cases I got to know their actual IQ, due to talks with their doctors or therapeuts.

They do realize they are having limits that others around them do not have, and when they witness, say, me doing some calculations about the list of food stuff we need to buy and what amount everyone has to put in so we split it evenly, it is like me standing next to Stephen Haking while he describes the theory of a seventh dimension.

And people with, say an IQ of 64 can't grasp the fact that things on TV can both be seen with their own eyes and still not be real. Like, 'WTF you try to make me believe Battlestar Galactica is not real? I seen it on telly yesterday!'

 

[sayvara]

I can't fully subscribe to that theory. I have worked with various persons in my jobs, and in several cases I got to know their actual IQ, due to talks with their doctors or therapeuts.

They do realize they are having limits that others around them do not have, and when they witness, say, me doing some calculations about the list of food stuff we need to buy and what amount everyone has to put in so we split it evenly, it is like me standing next to Stephen Haking while he describes the theory of a seventh dimension.

And people with, say an IQ of 64 can't grasp the fact that things on TV can both be seen with their own eyes and still not be real. Like, 'WTF you try to make me believe Battlestar Galactica is not real? I seen it on telly yesterday!'

It's not a perfect hypothesis of course, but if you regard that a talent of sorts require intelligence, aptitude and experience, a clever person will through intelligence and the experience of observing others still be able to make a correct conclusion that they themselves are not very good at a certain activity.

/S

 

[vodkazvictim]

I know I'm an idiot.

 

[FatPete]

well, everyone but me are idiots, so this clearly doesn't apply to me.

 

[CunningStunts]

Ignorance is bliss; most people who truly are idiots do not possess the intellectual capacity for true reflection, hence, will never realize it.

 

[Rey C.]

I have a twenty in my wallet.

Ah ha! I beat you. I got two $5's in mine! :nanner:

 

[bustybbwlover]

can stephen hawking think everyone else is an idiot and not be in danger?

 

[vodkazvictim]

Ah ha! I beat you. I got two $5's in mine! :nanner:

That's $55! Cn you lend me $5? It's not even half of what you own...

 

[Rey C.]

That's $55! Cn you lend me $5? It's not even half of what you own...

I'll give you 20% of what I have if you promise to give me 20% of what I lend you back. That way I break even. See, I'm good at maths.

 

[D-rock]

I don't think this always holds true. I've known people that were at least smart enough to know they were dumb, and let other smarter people handle situations when they knew they couldn't do it. Those people are a lot easier to deal with and less annoying then either the people that were so dumb they didn't realize how stupid they were or the people that were smart but not as smart as they thought they were and were overconfident in themselves and overestimated themselves to the point they ended up being just smart enough to be dangerous or foolhardy.