dunning kruger

The most dangerous person is the confident incompetent. Unfortunately, according to the Dunning–Kruger Effect, it is almost inevitable that the incompetent will be over-confident in their ability! This is simply because their incompetence means they lack the ability to judge their competence. As a result, low ability folks frequently suffer from illusionary superiority, consistently rating themselves significantly more capable then they actually are.

There are unfortunate corollaries: “High-ability individuals may underestimate their relative competence and may erroneously assume that tasks which are easy for them are also easy for others.” – Wikipedia

Solution? Cultivate a healthy skepticism, do not blindly accept anyone or anything as an authority, question frequently, become an independent thinker, seek out multiple sources.

Closing Quotes:

“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.” – Charles Darwin

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance” – Confucius

“One painful thing about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid and those with understanding are filled with doubt and indecision” – Bertrand Russell

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool” – Shakespeare; As You Like It

“If you’re incompetent, you can’t know you’re incompetent. The skills you need to produce a right answer are exactly the skills you need to recognize what a right answer is.” – Errol Morris

As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier