What word is defined as thinking about your own thinking?
Subject: Intellectual Arrogance - Illusion of Confidence
Event: New York Post publishes article entitled, “Why Losers Have Delusions,” 2010
Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. -Charles Darwin
On this day in 2010, an article appeared in the New York Post entitled “Why Losers Have Delusions.” The primary focus of the article was on the work of two social psychologists, David Dunning and Justin Kruger who documented a somewhat counterintuitive phenomenon: people who perform poorly at a task tend to overestimate their ability; conversely, those who perform well, frequently underestimate their ability.
In their 1999 paper, entitled “Unskilled and Unaware of It,” Dunning and Krugger summarized their findings as follows:
Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. (1)
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
It was Copernicus who said, “To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.” This quotation sums up the concept of metacognition -- the ability to think about your own thinking or to recognize what you know versus what you don’t.
It’s the Dunning-Kruger effect that says, “We aren’t very good at metacognition.” In other words, “We are not very good at knowing what we know.”
Also known as the illusion of confidence, the Dunning-Kruger effect explains why adolescents with little driving experience, greatly overestimate their skills as drivers. It also explains why any novice who begins learning a new skill will probably experience an initial positive burst of confident enthusiasm. Knowing the reality of the Dunning-Kruger effect will help you realize that this early confidence is illusory. To become a true expert at any skill requires time and effort. In addition, it requires humility to recognize not just what you know but also to recognize what you don’t know. For example, even though you may be able to pick up a guitar, learn a few chords, and be strumming your favorite Bob Dylan song by dinner time, this does not mean you’re as good as Eric Clapton.
One ancient story from the annals of Greek philosophy reminds us of the importance of intellectual humility:
One day someone told Socrates that the Oracle of Delphi had proclaimed that “Socrates is the wisest person in Athens.” When Socrates heard this, he was incredulous, saying, “There must be someone wiser than me.” He then began to search. Walking the streets of Athens in his usual manner, he talked to many people, asking them: “What is truly worthwhile in life?” Socrates reasoned that anyone who could answer this question satisfactorily must be wiser than he. Unfortunately, no one could give Socrates a clear answer; instead, people pretended to know things that they did not. This caused Socrates to conclude that the Oracle was correct. He was, in fact, the wisest because as Socrates said to himself, “At least I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
This statement by the philosopher has come to be known as the Socratic Paradox, illustrating that people who are truly wise are intellectually humble. Instead of assuming they know more than they really do, wise people like Socrates do not jump to conclusions. Instead, like Socrates, they constantly ask questions, and they question their own assumptions.
Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason: How does the Dunning-Kruger effect relate to metacognition? What is the Socratic Paradox?
Challenge - In the Footsteps of Socrates: Do a search for quotations on the topic of intellectual humility. Find one you like, and write the complete quotation down along with the name of the person who said it. Explain why you think the quotation is a good reminder for all of us of the importance of intellectual humility.
ALSO ON THIS DAY:
May 23, 1618: Just before the beginning of The Thirty Years War, a war in which Roman Catholics and Protestants battle for political and religious power, Protestant nobles threw two members of the Roman Catholic royal council and their secretary from the window of Hradcany Castle in Prague. The good news concerning this momentous defenestration is that no one was hurt -- the three victims fell into the waters of the castle’s moat. Today, therefore, is a day to commemorate the distinctly vivid and specific verb defenestrate, “To throw someone or something out of a window.”
Sources:
1-Kruger, Justin and David Dunning. “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology January 200, 77(6):1121-34.
2-Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris. “Why Losers Have Delusions of Grandeur.” New York Post 23 May 2010.
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