Continuing the McDojo theme…… In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task, overestimate their ability.
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People believe that they are more knowledgeable and capable than they really are. Essentially, low ability people do not possess the skills needed to recognize their own incompetence. The combination of poor self-awareness and low cognitive ability leads them to overestimate their own capabilities.
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So what explains this psychological effect? Are some people simply too dense (to be blunt), to know how dim-witted they are? Dunning and Kruger suggest that this phenomenon stems from what they refer to as a “dual burden.” People are not only incompetent; their incompetence robs them of the mental ability to realize just how inept they really are.
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Incompetent people tend to: Overestimate their own skill levels. Fail to recognize the genuine skill and expertise of other people, and fail to recognize their own mistakes and lack of skill.
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Another contributing factor is that sometimes a tiny bit of knowledge on a subject can lead people to mistakenly believe that they know all there is to know about it. As the old saying goes; “a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing”. A person might have the slimmest bit of awareness about a subject, yet thanks to the Dunning-Kruger effect, believe that he or she is an expert.
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So what can you do to gain a more realistic assessment of your own abilities?
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Keep learning and practicing. Instead of assuming you know all there is to know about a subject, keep digging deeper. Once you gain greater knowledge of a topic, the more likely you are to recognize how much there is still to learn. This can combat the tendency to assume you’re an expert, even if you’re not. And finally; ask other people how you’re doing, question what you know, and keep challenging your beliefs and expectations.
……. But don’t be a dimwit!…. Stay away from the McDojo! ??
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“There seems to be a deep-rooted tendency in the human mind to seek something that persists through change. Consequently the desire for explanation seems to be satisfied only by the discovery that what appears to be new and different was there all the time.” ~ Lizzie Susan Stebbing (1885-1943)