Dunning-Kruger Effect

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias that has never been more relevant than it is in the world today. What it is in a nut shell, is when you don't know enough to know that you don't know enough. It is when someone is too incompetent to comprehend their own incompetence. Someone experiencing the Dunning-Kruger effect will think themselves a genius on a topic that they actually possess very little knowledge on. Why am I bringing this up? What brought my mind to this topic? Quite simply, it was an article I came across from an old professor of mine. The article was about the Dunning-Kruger effect, but it focused mainly on it's application to politics and in particular, it's relevance to the 2016 election. You may be able to guess the assertions and conclusions that it put forth and came to, but I'll go over them anyway. Throughout the study that was done, a large sample of Americans were asked about their political views as well as how knowledgeable they thought themselves to be on politics. Given my reputation as a rabid progressive, and for the sake of fairness, I want to do my utmost to point out that there were people on both sides of the left/right political dichotomy that exhibited the titular cognitive bias, however it was somewhat more prevalent among conservatives, and rampant among Trump supporters in particular. Still, there were plenty on the left side of the aisle who also wrongly thought of themselves as experts. They were asked the same questions, some of which dealt with the nuts and bolts of the American political system, and those on both sides of the aisle that scored low on their understanding of the details also thought they knew much more than they actually did. Reading that article was both eye opening, and reaffirming of preconceived notions at the same time. It was eye opening because it was a powerful reminder that simply ascribing to a certain political philosophy doesn't make you better or smarter than anyone else (I'm very much talking about myself here). I've been aware of the concept of this cognitive bias for quite some time, which is largely why I do my best to be humble about the extent of my awareness of certain subjects, but had I never known about it, I would probably have a pretty big head about my views. Scratch that, I would downright be a text book example of what conservatives point to as an "insufferable pretentious know-it-all progressive". However, for the most part I'm careful not to be too boastful and out in the open with my political views and it's precisely because of my awareness of this cognitive bias. I very well still may exhibit it, I just do a decent job of not letting it show. I've seen many of my liberal colleagues take a very different approach and go full on indignant soapbox preacher on those they disagree with and I believe that's a very good example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, but like the article stated, it is more prevalent among Trump supporters and given everything I've seen from them over the past few years, I don't have a shred of a reason to question the findings of the study. Trump supporters, very much like the man himself, often have an overtly blunt confidence and bombast when it comes to political discussion. They thrive on conflict, and many believe themselves to be dialectical savants. Obviously, this is very often not the reality, but in their world it is, which brings the US political landscape to this weird place where delusions are somehow relevant in the discourse. Given that the commander in chief is so disconnected with reality himself, the rest of us are sort of forced to do our best to create a bridge between the reality that he and his camp live in, and the actual one where the rest of the world dwells in order to get to a place where anything can actually be accomplished. That's not ideal, but until we can shift who's in control, it's what needs to be done. This world where we don't really have a choice but to cater to those exhibiting the Dunning-Kruger effect is frustrating and unproductive, but there was one last piece of the study that left room for hope. It detailed that while those with the cognitive bias are unlikely to listen to dissenting opinions (no matter how factually based) there is a wide spectrum of it, what I gathered from it is that if battles are picked decisively and carefully, there is a chance that enough of the right minds can be swayed so that we can get to a point where a semblance of sanity can be restored. However, it's very obvious to most that the nation is becoming more divided on an almost daily pace so that window is closing. A steady hand and a calculated approach will be absolutely crucial if you plan on attempting to sway anyone you know who may be exhibiting the Dunning-Kruger effect. Bringing my monologue away from politics, it should be said that this cognitive bias doesn't discriminate based on your views, and it can apply to pretty much anything. The Dunning-Kruger effect can apply to finances, athletics, philosophy, history, art, music, and virtually any other subject that there are both experts and novices in. One of the key aspects of my worldview is that I believe it's crucial to have a student mentality until the day I die. I don't believe I will ever be done learning because from what I understand, one lifetime isn't even an infinitely small fraction of the time it would require to turn every stone there is in this world. I've found that this is the key belief to hold in order to avoid the Dunning-Kruger effect. If you find yourself thinking that you're something of an expert on everything, I implore you to remember this: the moment you start believing that you know it all, when you start to assume that you've got nothing left to learn, is the exact moment you step into the dark. I never want to shut myself off from growth in that fashion, and I definitely don't want anyone else to either.