1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: Lauren voke Obam here with an episode from the archives 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: for you back when our host was one Christian Sagar. 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: This is one that's come up, and I think all 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: of our conversations and frustrations lately are less informed people 6 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: more confident. And if so, why, Hey brain Stuff, it's 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: me Christian Sager. If you're like most people, you think 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: you're very good at some things and are able to 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: admit you're less good at others, you probably think you're 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,599 Speaker 1: superbly talented in one or two areas. Hey, you may 11 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: be right. You try to be honest with yourself about 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: your strong points and your weak ones, and you likely 13 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: shake your head in pity at people you see as 14 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: well stupid. You say things like, why don't they understand 15 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: that they're bad at doing stuff? Well, there is an answer, 16 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: but you're not gonna like it. And this answer doesn't 17 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: just apply to people you think of as dumb. It 18 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: applies to everyone on earth, including you and me. It's 19 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: not a matter of intelligence, necessarily a difficult thing to measure, 20 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: but it is related to competence, the ability to do 21 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: something well. In A psychologist named David Dunning and his 22 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: grad assistant Justin Krueger tested a group of students in 23 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: several categories, the ability to think logically, to write chromatically, 24 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: and to spot funny jokes. They also asked the students 25 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: to rate their skills in these categories, that is, when 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: they notice something weird. The people scoring below average on 27 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: these tests were just incompetent in these categories. They also 28 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: didn't know they were incompetent. And here's the kicker. The 29 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: less competent they were, the more competent they ranked themselves. 30 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: This is a phenomenon called illusory superiority. This is a 31 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: cognitive bias wherein people tend to rate their own abilities 32 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: as above average. Multiple studies have proven this effect in 33 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: everything from firearms to college debates and med students opinions 34 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: of their interviewing skills. It doesn't seem to matter what 35 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: specific skill we're talking about. The less a person knows 36 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: about it, the more likely they are to overestimate their knowledge. 37 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: While Dunning and Krueger popularize this effect in modern society, 38 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: they weren't the first people to notice the relationship between confidence, modesty, 39 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: and skill. Philosophers throughout the ages have contemplated this idea, 40 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: like Bertrand Russell, who famously wrote the trouble with the 41 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: world is that the stupid are cock sure and the 42 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 1: intelligent are full of doubt. And here's another weird thing. 43 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:49,239 Speaker 1: People with actual competency are likely to actually underestimate their abilities. 44 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: Researchers believe this modesty comes because competent people are more 45 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: aware of how much they don't actually know, as well 46 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: as their field in general, they also consistently overestimate the 47 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: performance ability of others. It all goes back to one 48 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: primary thing, meta cognition. Meta cognition is the ability to 49 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: be aware of and understand your own thought process. In 50 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: other words, the ability to think about how you think. 51 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: People tend to evaluate themselves through what Dunning and Krueger 52 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:27,559 Speaker 1: called a top down approach. Instead of objectively measuring their performance, 53 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: people start with their preconceived notions of their skill and 54 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: use that belief to evaluate their performance. Today's episode was 55 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: written by Ben Bullen and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain 56 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. 57 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: For more in this and lots of other relatively well 58 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: informed topics, visit our home planet how Stuff Works Dot 59 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: com and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit 60 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 61 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.