The Dunning–Kruger effect

[XDCX]

I ran across this yesterday and I thought it was awesome.

I've been thinking about getting a new smartphone so I've been reading up on the new Nexus 6P. There have been a few reports over the last few days that there might be a problem with a small glass screen breaking on the phone so I've been reading most of those reports.

After I read one report yesterday I started reading the comments that followed and in typical Internet fashion a pissing contest developed between people who claimed to have superior intellect concerning the actual cause of the problem and what will need to be done to correct the problem.

In the midst of one pissing contest someone remarked that it appeared the Dunning-Kruger effect was in play. Another person commented that they had a PHD in psychology and they agreed with the assessment.

I had no idea what the Dunning–Kruger effect was so I clicked on a provided link that took me to this Wikipedia page - click here

For those who don't have the time to click the link here's a brief excerpt from Wikipedia:

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias wherein relatively unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability to be much higher than is accurate. Dunning and Kruger attributed this bias to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their own ineptitude and evaluate their own ability accurately. Their research also suggests that conversely, highly skilled individuals may underestimate their relative competence, erroneously assuming that tasks which are easy for them also are easy for others

[XDCX]

Essentially, the Dunning-Kruger effect is a scientific study that found that stupid people are too stupid to know that they're stupid and smarter people tend to underestimate their intellect because they assume that everyone has the same ability to easily grasp tasks or concepts.

I'm guessing that anyone who has ever had to work with the public or deal with employees can attest that the Dunning-Kruger effect is true.

[XDCX]

Here's another excerpt from Wikipedia that I thought was spot on:

Dunning and Kruger proposed that, for a given skill, incompetent people will:[4]

• fail to recognize their own lack of skill
• fail to recognize genuine skill in others
• fail to recognize the extent of their inadequacy
• recognize and acknowledge their own lack of skill, after they are exposed to training for that skill

In my eyes this is a great rationale for providing more training and education.

[57years]

XDCX, I hope there is Forum topic has not been posted to sneakily test the membership....

Heh-Heh!

[steve_biegler]

Sounds like many green pea factory reps I've known over the years.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by 57years

XDCX, I hope there is Forum topic has not been posted to sneakily test the membership....

Heh-Heh!

No worries there - I have full faith in the intelligence of the members here.

I just thought the Dunning-Kruger effect would ring true with our members since everyone here has experience in working with customers and/or employees.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

Sounds like many green pea factory reps I've known over the years.

So true...

Nothing better than being forced to work with a young factory rep who has all the answers with ZERO real world experience.

[XDCX]

Here are two quotes from famous men who figured out the Dunning-Kruger effect long before the scientific study:

Confucius

• "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance"

Charles Darwin

• "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

[birch3x]

Interesting, I never knew there was a term for this. It fits in with my favorite John Wayne quote, 'life it tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid'.

[XDCX]

I was thinking of this thread the other day and wondering if a similar theory would hold true for people who are socially awkward?

We all know someone who is hard to be around in a group setting because they'll almost always say or do something that makes everyone else feel uncomfortable or awkward.

I wonder if people who are socially awkward even know they're awkward or can sense that others don't share their awkward tendencies?

I'm betting the socially awkward people are just like the simple minded people who live in bliss and have no clue of their inadequacies.