SolitaryWalker
Tenured roisterer
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2007
- Messages
- 3,504
- MBTI Type
- INTP
- Enneagram
- 5w6
- Instinctual Variant
- so/sx
As some of you may already know, the Dunning Kruger effect can be summarized as follows.
YouTube
Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia
The least competent and capable of people tend to be the most likely to grossly overestimate their own abilities.
For example, people who score in the 11th percentile of all standardized test-takers are likely to rate their abilities as being in the 99% percentile. The same goes for typing skills, music, IQ tests and so on.
Conversely, the exceptionaly capable performers tend to underestimate their own abilities.
The reason for this mismatch between the actual abilities of people and their perception of their own competencies is simple. The lower our skill level is in any craft, the less likely we are to be capable of identifying our own deficiencies. In other words, the skills required for one to optimize their performance overlap with the ones we need to understand what we must improve upon. So, the most incompetent of us tend to be deficient to the point where we have no idea how we can raise our skill-level. In the absence of knowledge of our own short-comings, we tend to presume ourselves to be excellent.
Conversely, the superb performers have a highly refined ability to identify flaws in their own performance. Naturally, they are constantly aware of the many ways in which they can improve.
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I haven't been active on this forum for a long time, but I can confess the following.
One of the reasons I have stopped posting is that my general knowledge and verbal communication skills have improved. In part because of this, I've heightened my awareness of how my previous posts could have used plenty of improvement. Moreover, it has dawned on me that if I were to even begin enhancing them, I'd need to devote far more time to them than I was willing to.
I have also noticed that even if I were to do that, I would get very little feedback from other thoughtful people who were also willing to take the discussion to the next level. The reason for it is simple: the thoughtful posters are also well aware of how much time and effort it takes for them to contribute intellectual value to a fairly complex discussion.
On the other hand, there would be no shortage of ill-conceived and flippant replies from folks who know next to nothing, yet somehow presume themselves to be exceptionally bright.
This seems to explain why various social media sites are awash in comments from young adults who proclaim that their IQ is higher than Einstein's. Surely, had these college kids taken just an hour of their time out of their wide open schedule to learn the basic facts about IQ, they wouldn't be sputtering such non-sense.
I must admit, I am quite wary of people who appear to be much brighter than I am and the more learned I become, the easier time I have of identifying such individuals. On the other hand, when I see someone boast of their "totally awesome, off the charts IQ", I know that I have nothing to worry about. I can say the same about the regular forum members who never get tired of posting self-congratulatory drivel.
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Admittedly, to some extent, this post can count as an example of the same kind of rhetoric that I am railing against, so I don't pretend to be the humblest and the most capable of the members of our community.
Had I been as accomplished and articule as I'd like myself to be, I probably wouldn't be posting here, let alone trying to initiate a conversation on the Dunning-Kruger effect. The irony of the situation I am creating is not lost on me and I fully expect that the majority of the replies I'll receive here will carry very little substance.
Yet again, I shall ask our readers the following questions.
Have you noticed that regardless of how carefully you try to frame the issue or how thoroughly you attempt to support your claims with facts or cogent arguments, the lion's share of replies you'll get will always be completely meritless?
Likewise, have you noticed that when you identify a few thoughtful posters whom you'd like to engage in your discussions, it is next to impossible to encourage them to participate?
YouTube
Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia
The least competent and capable of people tend to be the most likely to grossly overestimate their own abilities.
For example, people who score in the 11th percentile of all standardized test-takers are likely to rate their abilities as being in the 99% percentile. The same goes for typing skills, music, IQ tests and so on.
Conversely, the exceptionaly capable performers tend to underestimate their own abilities.
The reason for this mismatch between the actual abilities of people and their perception of their own competencies is simple. The lower our skill level is in any craft, the less likely we are to be capable of identifying our own deficiencies. In other words, the skills required for one to optimize their performance overlap with the ones we need to understand what we must improve upon. So, the most incompetent of us tend to be deficient to the point where we have no idea how we can raise our skill-level. In the absence of knowledge of our own short-comings, we tend to presume ourselves to be excellent.
Conversely, the superb performers have a highly refined ability to identify flaws in their own performance. Naturally, they are constantly aware of the many ways in which they can improve.
---------------------------------------------
I haven't been active on this forum for a long time, but I can confess the following.
One of the reasons I have stopped posting is that my general knowledge and verbal communication skills have improved. In part because of this, I've heightened my awareness of how my previous posts could have used plenty of improvement. Moreover, it has dawned on me that if I were to even begin enhancing them, I'd need to devote far more time to them than I was willing to.
I have also noticed that even if I were to do that, I would get very little feedback from other thoughtful people who were also willing to take the discussion to the next level. The reason for it is simple: the thoughtful posters are also well aware of how much time and effort it takes for them to contribute intellectual value to a fairly complex discussion.
On the other hand, there would be no shortage of ill-conceived and flippant replies from folks who know next to nothing, yet somehow presume themselves to be exceptionally bright.
This seems to explain why various social media sites are awash in comments from young adults who proclaim that their IQ is higher than Einstein's. Surely, had these college kids taken just an hour of their time out of their wide open schedule to learn the basic facts about IQ, they wouldn't be sputtering such non-sense.
I must admit, I am quite wary of people who appear to be much brighter than I am and the more learned I become, the easier time I have of identifying such individuals. On the other hand, when I see someone boast of their "totally awesome, off the charts IQ", I know that I have nothing to worry about. I can say the same about the regular forum members who never get tired of posting self-congratulatory drivel.
---------------------------------------------
Admittedly, to some extent, this post can count as an example of the same kind of rhetoric that I am railing against, so I don't pretend to be the humblest and the most capable of the members of our community.
Had I been as accomplished and articule as I'd like myself to be, I probably wouldn't be posting here, let alone trying to initiate a conversation on the Dunning-Kruger effect. The irony of the situation I am creating is not lost on me and I fully expect that the majority of the replies I'll receive here will carry very little substance.
Yet again, I shall ask our readers the following questions.
Have you noticed that regardless of how carefully you try to frame the issue or how thoroughly you attempt to support your claims with facts or cogent arguments, the lion's share of replies you'll get will always be completely meritless?
Likewise, have you noticed that when you identify a few thoughtful posters whom you'd like to engage in your discussions, it is next to impossible to encourage them to participate?
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