No, it isn’t what you think. It’s not about climate change, pandemic, or recession. Continue reading because the clues are all around us. It is about being ‘more the show than the go’, putting the money where the mouth is’, and particularly that ‘a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing’.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a phenomenon of overestimating one’s own abilities. It is far more common than you may think. Confidence is so highly prized that many people would rather pretend to be smart or skilled than risk looking inadequate and losing face. A reason to aggrandize knowledge and capabilities ties to the fact that it can feel shameful to admit that one doesn’t know something. On social media one will inevitably come across someone who genuinely believes to have the expertise to speak with authority on a topic that they actually seem to know little or nothing about. The general tendency is to think that one is better than average.
The average person thinks he isn’t. Everything happens for a reason; sometimes the reason is a bad decision. That bad decision may be the result of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. This effect can be observed in domains varying from business to private everyday tasks. By understanding this psychological phenomenon, one can approach situations with more humility and strive for continuous improvement rather than succumbing to false confidence based on incomplete understanding.
When starting a project or business venture, the future is translated in terms of positive outcomes, imagining that the business will start, pick up, and be successful. But the success of a business is driven less by a dream and rather more by data, research, analysis, by a customer-oriented strategy, and a precise business plan. Some forecasts in the plans are like coming from an astrologer who sees the future results in the stars.
It is a form of mental bias that can have devastating effects on any business but especially start-ups where it can be an illusion that kills energy, time, money, and dreams. It happens to first-time entrepreneurs who are enthusiastic about starting a business venture but have little or no expertise or experience and demonstrate a “beginner’s bubble” of confidence.
When people are overconfident that the business will succeed without understanding how it will really happen, their overconfidence may blur the rational decision-making process, and they are tending to make decisions based entirely on their opinions. Poor decisions are likely made, and erroneous conclusions reached because of a lack of expertise and experience which denies the ability to recognize the shortcomings; simply put, not being aware of what is not known. A project may fall to illusory superiority of a decisionmaker by rating their knowledge level way higher than it actually is.
Any successful project should be an extension of data-based and unbiased decisions. It takes a strategic approach to growth. Confidence is a “must-have”. Decision-makers should be driven by their vision and knowledge to achieve their end-goal, but there is a fine line between confidence and overconfidence. Understanding the Dunning-Kruger Effect helps recognize why some individuals exhibit unwarranted self-assurance despite lacking ample expertise in a particular subject matter yet tend to overestimate their competence.
They believe that they possess above-average skills to the point that they feel confident in their abilities and act accordingly and also express themselves publicly. However, a lack of accurate knowledge about a topic combined with over confidence may contribute to spreading misinformation.
The effect is so obvious in many different tasks and specialized fields of knowledge related to business, politics, driving, aviation, healthcare, safety procedures, and social issues. It appears in all walks of life of the common individuals as well as in groups of people with shared interests or professions. Overly favorable views of abilities tend to be held in many social and intellectual spheres of influence.
In finance and investing, people who overestimate their knowledge and ability may confidently make unwise or overly risky investment decisions that can result in significant losses. Studies have found that less experienced drivers overestimate their driving abilities. A new driver might believe that they are excellent and take risks a more experienced driver would avoid. It can lead to accidents and other dangerous situations on the road. The effect also exists in the world of team sports. Less skilled teammates may overestimate their abilities and make mistakes that cost their team’s chances of winning. Overconfidence can lead ‘hobby-pilots’ to operate a new aircraft for which they lack adequate training or to engage in flight maneuvers that exceed their proficiency.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect isn’t all negative. A little extra optimism and self-assuredness could be what is needed for people to achieve goals that might have seemed completely unrealistic to others. Of course, being controversial and having a fanciable imagination for a grown-up creates more attention than being boring and it can be enchanting and arousing.
However, if one thinks that one is an expert, the lesson of the Dunning-Kruger effect is that one should remain humble and cautious about oneself and recognize there is always room for improvement. It is not about dumb or intelligent people. It’s mostly about things one may not be very competent at, and one doesn’t know what one doesn’t know. It serves as a reminder that true competence requires humility and an ongoing commitment to learning and growth.
*editor’s note* The above is an opinion piece about the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
Click the following hyper-text to learn more about the Dunning-Kruger Effect with references to science-based research.
To understand what Dunning-Kruger effect is,listen to The HOT SEAT and TALK ON THE BLOC on Q95.Take a good look at your blue political ahole,although he is uneducated he is an authority on everything,fishing,planting,sports,law,accounts,economics,aviation and the constitution .Even without a damn GCE or CXC.
It is aholes like you who have UWP in the 🐕 house.
Dunning-Kruger effect is,a NEGATIVE balance in which people with LIMITED competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities.So before you post stupidness and leave no doubt that you are a Jacka go and do some reading.But again you are a supporter of UWP nothing better expected.Your honourable leader Ugly Lenny is best candidate suffering with Donning-Kruger effects he is a wizard and a Dr.in economics.But he does not possess a single GCE or CXC.That is what is meant by people with LIMITED competence in a particular domain overestimate their ability.When that happens they push the people with competence in that domain out,and embarrass themselves.Every Dominican know Ugly is uneducated,but he will lead discussion on subject matters he know nothing about.That is common with UWP supporters they do not read,and quick to open their Jellsantie.Although Unly is a Jacka listening to him he is more competent than Dr.Fontaine.
liked your comment in error, exactly the kind of person I described in my comment. Workers have their problems for sure, but you behave just as bad or worse than what you complaining about. But because you supporting your party (Labour) that makes it ok…
Labour Power, you really have a problem man ? With what strech of the imagination did you arrive at what you wrote ? And pray, tell us, what is this preponderant propensity of yours to refer to everyone with whom you disagree as being that part of the human anatomy
The author was simply sharing information of a general nature to whomsoever would be interested. Not even THAT you can grasp? 
Good reading for our current leaders and managers ; but as usual, they won’t dare venture to read much less attempt to apply. And the followers prefer to listen to Anou Parlé. Not even a public library available now in Dominica. Most get their information from Google
Do you have a problem with getting information from Google, just curious. Why are you singling out Anou Parlé,It is not always what you listen to but your ability to decipher nonsense for the truth, question things that are told to you.
Methinks that the Dunning-Kruger Effect may well be a very Dominican phenomenon. For starters, the man who run things is a “Doctor” who has never graduated from any accredited doctoral program. This same “Doctor” has been cooing about how well the economy has been recovering and doing for the last couple of years. And having a country pay your house rent to the tune of $64,000 per month is indicative of a rich economy, right? In reality, the country is allegedly as “brokes” as a church mouse. Go figure!
Why you write such foolishness, don’t you see things apart from your partisan beliefs, Did the PM ever say he is a Doctor, do you know what an honorary degree is, if you do not understand something, why display gross ignorance, gosh, remove that veil of partisan beliefs, be rational, not asking you to denounce your support for the Opposition nor to support the Government. Now, when Linton says he is an Investigative Journalist, do you
have a problem with that. What do you know about reality lol, so long
I like the link to scientific research on the theory. The opinion piece is good for what it is but not as precise as the info in the link.
The Dominicans who need to hear this most ,assuming they even read the article, are gonna claim everyone else but them is suffering from this, or maybe give lip service to the idea that everyone including them can be affected by this but act like only the “other”(whoever they feel is different from them or are prejudiced against) is or can be affected by the Dunning-Kruger Effect…look a country.
Good overall message though.