WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Are Less Experienced People More Confident?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren voke Obam here with an episode from the archives

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<v Speaker 1>for you back when our host was one Christian Sagar.

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<v Speaker 1>This is one that's come up, and I think all

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<v Speaker 1>of our conversations and frustrations lately are less informed people

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<v Speaker 1>more confident. And if so, why, Hey brain Stuff, it's

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<v Speaker 1>me Christian Sager. If you're like most people, you think

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<v Speaker 1>you're very good at some things and are able to

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<v Speaker 1>admit you're less good at others, you probably think you're

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<v Speaker 1>superbly talented in one or two areas. Hey, you may

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<v Speaker 1>be right. You try to be honest with yourself about

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<v Speaker 1>your strong points and your weak ones, and you likely

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<v Speaker 1>shake your head in pity at people you see as

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<v Speaker 1>well stupid. You say things like, why don't they understand

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<v Speaker 1>that they're bad at doing stuff? Well, there is an answer,

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<v Speaker 1>but you're not gonna like it. And this answer doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>just apply to people you think of as dumb. It

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<v Speaker 1>applies to everyone on earth, including you and me. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not a matter of intelligence, necessarily a difficult thing to measure,

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<v Speaker 1>but it is related to competence, the ability to do

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<v Speaker 1>something well. In A psychologist named David Dunning and his

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<v Speaker 1>grad assistant Justin Krueger tested a group of students in

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<v Speaker 1>several categories, the ability to think logically, to write chromatically,

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<v Speaker 1>and to spot funny jokes. They also asked the students

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<v Speaker 1>to rate their skills in these categories, that is, when

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<v Speaker 1>they notice something weird. The people scoring below average on

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<v Speaker 1>these tests were just incompetent in these categories. They also

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<v Speaker 1>didn't know they were incompetent. And here's the kicker. The

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<v Speaker 1>less competent they were, the more competent they ranked themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>This is a phenomenon called illusory superiority. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>cognitive bias wherein people tend to rate their own abilities

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<v Speaker 1>as above average. Multiple studies have proven this effect in

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<v Speaker 1>everything from firearms to college debates and med students opinions

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<v Speaker 1>of their interviewing skills. It doesn't seem to matter what

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<v Speaker 1>specific skill we're talking about. The less a person knows

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<v Speaker 1>about it, the more likely they are to overestimate their knowledge.

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<v Speaker 1>While Dunning and Krueger popularize this effect in modern society,

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<v Speaker 1>they weren't the first people to notice the relationship between confidence, modesty,

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<v Speaker 1>and skill. Philosophers throughout the ages have contemplated this idea,

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<v Speaker 1>like Bertrand Russell, who famously wrote the trouble with the

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<v Speaker 1>world is that the stupid are cock sure and the

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<v Speaker 1>intelligent are full of doubt. And here's another weird thing.

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<v Speaker 1>People with actual competency are likely to actually underestimate their abilities.

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<v Speaker 1>Researchers believe this modesty comes because competent people are more

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<v Speaker 1>aware of how much they don't actually know, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as their field in general, they also consistently overestimate the

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<v Speaker 1>performance ability of others. It all goes back to one

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<v Speaker 1>primary thing, meta cognition. Meta cognition is the ability to

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<v Speaker 1>be aware of and understand your own thought process. In

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<v Speaker 1>other words, the ability to think about how you think.

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<v Speaker 1>People tend to evaluate themselves through what Dunning and Krueger

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<v Speaker 1>called a top down approach. Instead of objectively measuring their performance,

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<v Speaker 1>people start with their preconceived notions of their skill and

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<v Speaker 1>use that belief to evaluate their performance. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Ben Bullen and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works.

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<v Speaker 1>For more in this and lots of other relatively well

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<v Speaker 1>informed topics, visit our home planet how Stuff Works Dot

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