Why incompetent people think they're

amazing - David Dunning

Are you as good at things as you think you are?
How good are you at managing money?
What about reading people's emotions?
How healthy are you compared to other people you know?
Are you better than average at grammar?
Knowing how competent we are and how our skills stack up against other peoples is more than
a self esteem boost.
It helps us figure out when we can forge ahead on our own decisions and instincts and when we
need instead to seek out advice.
But the psychological research suggests that we are not very good at evaluating ourselves
accurately.
In fact, we frequently overestimate our own abilities.
Researchers have a name for this phenomena. The Dunning Kruger effect.
This effect explains why more than 100 studies have shown that people display illusory
superiority.
We judge ourselves as better than others to a degree that violates the laws of math.
When software engineers at two companies were asked to rate their performance 32% of
engineers at one company and 42% at the other put themselves in the top 5%.
In another study, 88% of American drivers described themselves as having above average
driving skills.
These aren't isolated findings.
On average, people tend to rate themselves better than most in disciplines ranging from health,
leadership skills, ethics and beyond.
What's particularly interesting is that those with the least ability are often the most likely to
overrate their skills to the greatest extent.
People measurably poor at logical reasoning, grammar, financial knowledge, math, emotional
intelligence, writing medical lab tests and chess, all tend to rate their expertise almost as
favorably as actual experts do.
So who is most vulnerable to this delusion?
Sadly, all of us because we all have pockets of incompetence we don't recognize.
But why?
When psychologists Dunning and Kruger first described the effect in 1999, they argued that
people lacking knowledge and skill in particular areas suffered a double curse.
First they make mistakes and reach poor decisions.
But second, those same knowledge gaps also prevent them from catching their errors,
In other words, poor performers lack the very expertise needed to recognize how badly they are
doing.
For example, when the researchers studied participants in a college debate tournament, the
bottom 25 of teams in preliminary rounds lost nearly four out of every five matches.
But they thought they were winning almost 60%.
Without a strong grasp of the rules of debate, the students simply couldn't recognize when or
how often their arguments broke down.
The Dunning Kruger effect isn't a question of ego blinding us to our weaknesses.
People usually do admit their deficits once they can spot them.
In one study, students who had initially done badly on the logic quiz and then took a mini course
on logic were quite willing to label their original performances as awful.
That may be why people with a moderate amount of experience or expertise often have less
confidence in their abilities.
They know enough to know that there is a lot they don't know.
Meanwhile, experts tend to be aware of just how knowledgeable they are.
But they often make a different mistake.
They assume that everyone else is knowledgeable too.
The result is that people, whether they are inept or highly skilled, are often caught in a bubble of
inaccurate self perception.
When they are unskilled, they can't see their own faults.
When they are exceptionally competent, they don't perceive how unusual their abilities are.
So if the Dunning Kruger effect is invisible to those experiencing it, what can you do to find out
how good you actually are at various things?
First, ask for feedback from other people and consider it even if it's hard to hear.
Second, and more important, keep learning.
The more knowledgeable we become, the less likely we are to have invisible holes in our
competence.
Perhaps it all boils down to that old proverb: when arguing with a fool, first make sure the other
person isn't doing the same thing.
WHY INCOMPETENT PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE AMAZING? BY DAVID DUNNING
Complete the gaps with the words you will hear in the video:
Are you as good at things as you think you are? How good are you at managing money? What
about reading people's emotions? How healthy are you compared to other people you know?
Are you better than average at grammar?
Knowing how competent we are and how our skills 1) stack up against other people’s is
more than a self-esteem boost. It helps us figure out when we can 2) forge ahead on
our own decisions and instincts and when we need instead to 3) seek out advice.
But psychological research suggests that we are not very good at evaluating ourselves
accurately. In fact, we frequently 4) overestimate our own abilities. Researchers have a name
for this phenomena. The Dunning Kruger effect. This effect explains why more than 100 studies
have shown that people display 5) illusory superiority.
We judge ourselves as better than others to a degree that violates the laws of math.
When software engineers at two companies were asked to rate their performance 6) 32 % of
engineers at one company and 7) 42 % at the other put themselves in the top 5%.
In another study, 8) 88 % of American drivers described themselves as having above average
driving skills. These aren't 9) isolated findings.
On average, people tend to rate themselves better than most in disciplines ranging from health,
leadership skills, ethics and beyond.
What's particularly interesting is that those with the 10) least ability are often the most likely to
overrate their skills to the greatest extent.
People measurably 11) poor at logical reasoning, grammar, financial knowledge, math,
emotional intelligence, writing medical lab tests and chess, all tend to rate their 12) expertise
almost as favorably as actual experts do.
So who is most vulnerable to this delusion? Sadly, all of us because we all have pockets of
incompetence we don't recognize. But why?
When psychologists Dunning and Kruger first described the effect in 13) 1999 , they argued
that people lacking knowledge and skill in particular areas suffered a double 14) curse .
First, they make mistakes and reach poor decisions. But second, those same knowledge gaps
also prevent them from catching their errors. In other words, poor performers lack the very
expertise needed to recognize how badly they are doing.
For example, when the researchers studied participants in a college 15) debate
tournament, the bottom 25 of teams in preliminary rounds lost nearly four out of every five
matches.
But they thought they were winning almost 16) 60 %.
Without a strong 17) grasp of the rules of debate, the students simply couldn't recognize
when or how often their arguments broke down.
The Dunning Kruger effect isn't a question of 18) ego blinding us to our weaknesses.
People usually do admit their 19) deficits once they can spot them.
In one study, students who had initially done badly on the logic quiz and then took a mini course
on logic were quite willing to 20) label their original performances as awful.
That may be why people with a 21) moderate amount of experience or expertise often have
less confidence in their abilities. They know enough to know that there is a lot they don't know.
Meanwhile, experts tend to be aware of just how 22) knowledgeable they are. But they often
make a different mistake. They assume that everyone else is knowledgeable too.
The result is that people, whether they are 23) inept or highly skilled, are often caught in a
bubble of inaccurate self-perception.
When they are unskilled, they can't see their own 24) faults .
When they are exceptionally competent, they don't perceive how unusual their abilities are.
So if the Dunning Kruger effect is 25) invisible to those experiencing it, what can you do to
find out how good you actually are at various things?
First, ask for feedback from other people and consider it even if it's hard to hear.
Second, and more important, keep learning.
The more knowledgeable we become, the less likely we are to have invisible holes in our
competence.
Perhaps it all 26) boils down to that old proverb: when arguing with a fool, first make sure the
other person isn't doing the same thing.

Choose the right answer:

1) When it comes to their skills and abilities, people tend to:
A. Overrate themselves
B. Underrate themselves
C. Have roughly accurate impressions of what they can and cannot do

2) According to the Dunning-Kruger effect, people fail to recognize their deficits and
shortcomings because:
A. Other people avoid giving them negative feedback
B. People refuse to acknowledge shortcomings that threaten their ego
C. People fail to have the expertise necessary to recognize how bad their skills are
D. People seek out flattery from other people

3) Poor performers suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect:

A. Tend to rate their skills much more positively than experts rate theirs
B. Tend to rate their skills almost as favorably as experts rate their own
C. Tend to rate their skills as way below average
D. Tend to rate their skills as permanent deficits that cannot change

4) What’s a possible way to gain an accurate self-image?

A. Seek out feedback from others
B. Always keep learning
C. Both work
D. Neither works

5) What mistake do experts make when evaluating their skills?

A. They, too, overestimate their skills
B. They tend to assume too much that everyone else is knowledgeable, too
C. They tend to assume other people don’t know anything
 D. Experts forget just how quickly skills fades without practice

Too many people rate themselves as superior to their peers, violating the rules of mathematics.
What other ways do people show themselves to be overconfident or underconfident in themselves?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Experts tend to think that other people know what they know and can do what they find easy. What
leads them to make this mistake?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are there areas where people are more reliably successful in identifying their shortcomings? What
distinguishes these areas from areas where people can’t recognize their shortcomings?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------