It has been scientifically proven that stupid people don't know they're stupid.

[Orlando Magic]

By no means is this groundbreaking information, but I always enjoy informing people as a whole of this fact every now and then...

Additionally, it explains a lot... especially about the people on this board and people I meet in person... and has been confirmation of a lot of my thoughts all along, lol.

http://www.livescience.com/18678-incompetent-people-ignorant.html


A growing body of psychology research shows that incompetence deprives people of the ability to recognize their own incompetence. To put it bluntly, dumb people are too dumb to know it. Similarly, unfunny people don't have a good enough sense of humor to tell.

This disconnect may be responsible for many of society's problems.

With more than a decade's worth of research, David Dunning, a psychologist at Cornell University, has demonstrated that humans find it "intrinsically difficult to get a sense of what we don't know." Whether an individual lacks competence in logical reasoning, emotional intelligence, humor or even chess abilities, the person still tends to rate his or her skills in that area as being above average.








Dunning and his colleague, Justin Kruger, formerly of Cornell and now at New York University, "have done a number of studies where we will give people a test of some area of knowledge like logical reasoning, knowledge about STDs and how to avoid them, emotional intelligence, etcetera. Then we determine their scores, and basically just ask them how well they think they've done," Dunning said. "We ask, 'what percentile will your performance fall in?'"

The results are uniform across all the knowledge domains: People who actually did well on the test tend to feel more confident about their performance than people who didn't do well, but only slightly. Almost everyone thinks they did better than average. "For people at the bottom who are really doing badly — those in the bottom 10th or 15th percentile — they think their work falls in the 60th or 55th percentile, so, above average," Dunning told Life's Little Mysteries. The same pattern emerges in tests of people's ability to rate the funniness of jokes, the correctness of grammar, or even their own performance in a game of chess. "People at the bottom still think they're outperforming other people." [Graph]

It's not merely optimism, but rather that their total lack of expertise renders them unable to recognize their deficiency. Even when Dunning and his colleagues offer study participants a $100 reward if they can rate themselves accurately, they cannot. "They're really trying to be honest and impartial," he said.

If only we knew ourselves better. Dunning believes people's inability to assess their own knowledge is the cause of many of society's ills, including climate change denialism. "Many people don't have training in science, and so they may very well misunderstand the science. But because they don't have the knowledge to evaluate it, they don't realize how off their evaluations might be," he said.

Moreover, even if a person has come to a very logical conclusion about whether climate change is real or not based on their evaluation of the science, "they're really not in a position to evaluate the science."

Along the same lines, people who aren't talented in a given area tend not to be able to recognize the talents or good ideas of others, from co-workers to politicians. This may impede the democratic process, which relies on citizens having the capacity to identify and support the best candidate or policy.Hello Kobe slobbers.

The ultimate takeaway of the research is the reminder that you really may not be as great as you think you are. And you might not be right about the things you believe you're right about. And if you try to joke about all this, you might not come off as funny as you think.

[Patrick Chewing]

Dude, wait.....what??

[Bandito]

A lot of people know exactly how stupid they are but their pride prevents them from accepting it.

[~primetime~]

This just says that most of us (not all of us) tend to think we are better in the areas that we are poor in.

[Orlando Magic]

A lot of people know exactly how stupid they are but their pride prevents them from accepting it.

I disagree. Yes, there are certainly cases supporting your stance where people are aware and just unwilling to admit a shortcoming... but I think it's a bigger issue at the core, as the article points out.

[Orlando Magic]

This just says that most of us (not all of us) tend to think we are better in the areas that we are poor in.

True.

Do you ever think to yourself... wow... I know I'm not that smart in the grand scheme... but most everyone around me is a ****ing retard? I have that thought all the time.

[Bandito]

I disagree. Yes, there are certainly cases supporting your stance where people are aware and just unwilling to admit a shortcoming... but I think it's a bigger issue at the core, as the article points out.
Well now that I think about it...I think youre right.

I have met throught my life some people that fit that description the article states.

[Lensanity]

I honestly think I'm smarter and definitely more logical than 99% of the people I meet.

[CavaliersFTW]

True.

Do you ever think to yourself... wow... I know I'm not that smart in the grand scheme... but most everyone around me is a ****ing retard? I have that thought all the time.
That's called Narcissism

[Out_In_Utah]

I honestly think I'm smarter and definitely more logical than 99% of the people I meet.

So you are proof of the OP's point. Got it.

[sundizz]

This is exactly the situation when it comes to basketball and knowledge about basketball.

I am, by any definition, a genius level basketball enthusiast.

People rarely understand the game as well as me. Yet, they believe in their own opinions consistently.

Thoughts I've had (posted on here)
04/07/15: Kawhi Leonard is the DPOY

10/26/14: Dubs under Kerr are going to be amazing.

11/24/12: (Talking about Pau Gasol) I am moreso a basketball fan. It's not like this guy has fallen off the face of the earth in his abilities. In the not so distant past, he absolutely dominated in the Olympics. It is because the team took advantage of him and utilized him. His biggest problem is that he is the only player on the Lakers that compromises and tries to be a part of the team. He is infinitely more skilled than Dwight on the block, yet he goes to the outside to try and clear space for Howard. It's ridiculous. He is probably the best offensive option on the Lakers. If they ran the offense through him (while Nash isn't around), and let Kobe become a jump shooter the team would do much better. For his own sake, I hope he goes to another team and puts up 20, 10, 2 bpg with 50% on a playoff team.

04/03/14: (Talking about Boris Diaw, prior to the playoffs, Spurs end up crushing the Heat 4-1) Honestly, this guy is a beast. An absolute beast. He is way too strong with his core/backside for 3's and just abuses them in the post with his great footwork and ability to use his weight. He has great passing, and ability to use minimal movement and gets to the rim against 4's pretty easily. I really think he is one of the biggest mismatches in the league. He's not that explosive type of scorer but he forces adjustments all game from the other team. That is all sorts of impact. Top top it all off...he's a pretty damn good defender.

I'm wrong as often as I am right of course. It's basketball. Got some hedge comments out there about Kevin Winslow becoming a stud in the NBA, etc.

[HitandRun Reggie]

I honestly think I'm smarter and definitely more logical than 99% of the people I meet.


Let me guess, self delusion is another one of the many fringe benefits of living life high as a kite. They say ignorance is bliss....

[ace23]

Do you ever think to yourself... wow... I know I'm not that smart in the grand scheme... but most everyone around me is a ****ing retard? I have that thought all the time.
:roll: Nah bro

[nathanjizzle]

everyone has a level of stupidity and incompetence, those who think they dont are delusional and narcissists. I was hiring this kid to work at my shop part time. He came in for an introduction, and he had the gal bladders to tell me that i was probably thinking "who is this intelligent kid asking all the right questions". at that point i had a disgusting feeling in the pit of my stomach knowing that im dealing with one of these "im so awesome" young adults who havent been put in their place in the real world yet. BTW, after working with this kid, and a few narcissist comments from him, ive broken him down and made him few dumb a few times, also he has the maturity level of a 11 year old and hes 23.

[Bandito]

everyone has a level of stupidity and incompetence, those who think they dont are delusional and narcissists. I was hiring this kid to work at my shop part time. He came in for an introduction, and he had the gal bladders to tell me that i was probably thinking "who is this intelligent kid asking all the right questions". at that point i had a disgusting feeling in the pit of my stomach knowing that im dealing with one of these "im so awesome" young adults who havent been put in their place in the real world yet. BTW, after working with this kid, and a few narcissist comments from him, ive broken him down and made him few dumb a few times, also he has the maturity level of a 11 year old and hes 23.
Let me see if I got this right. This man with the maturity of a 11 year old just came to "you shop" for an interview. You thought he was an idiot and yet you still hired him? Why? That doesn't make sense.


"made him few dumb a few times," also, what does this means? Is this even English?

[ILLsmak]

True.

Do you ever think to yourself... wow... I know I'm not that smart in the grand scheme... but most everyone around me is a ****ing retard? I have that thought all the time.

The thing is that people don't think they are stupid like most people don't wanna think they are ugly. Most people probably think they are around average intelligence. Unfortunately, the average intelligence is in fact stupid.

You just don't see many smart people around.

I think that intelligence isn't required for a lot of things. I think that people are too stubborn to admit they are wrong and they are also selfish. I believe that's more of an issue than low intelligence, in terms of society's problems. How many jobs out there require intelligence beyond following simple directions? not many. And the truth is that most of the people who are ****ing up our society are in those jobs.

The blue collar class of our workforce is shit. Even the higher tier like... clerks, nurses, etc... a lot of them are shit, too. People define their worth by how much money they can make not how well they do their job or how smart they are.

I've heard many people say to me, "I'm not that smart." So... I dunno. I don't think people lack the ability to discern their intelligence. They know when other people can do shit they can't.

Now, I think a lot of people think they are being smart while they're being stupid... I can get behind that.

-Smak

[nathanjizzle]

Let me see if I got this right. This man with the maturity of a 11 year old just came to "you shop" for an interview. You thought he was an idiot and yet you still hired him? Why? That doesn't make sense.

also, what does this means? Is this even English?

i agreed with his dad to let him work. hes not dumb nor is he intelligent, but hes very oblivious and most likely have been babied and sheltered by his parents.

common, take a guess at a typo, not that hard.

[Blue&Orange]

duh

[JEFFERSON MONEY]

Yeah that's why norm Mcdonald is a Comedians comedian

[Budadiiii]

True.

Do you ever think to yourself... wow... I know I'm not that smart in the grand scheme... but most everyone around me is a ****ing retard? I have that thought all the time.
you said billy d was staying at florida. you were adamant about it.

i can never trust another thing you ever say on here. not that i ever did but still.

[BigBoss]

http://i.imgur.com/PRYr0yE.gif

[Jailblazers7]

I think the reason that most people don't think they are stupid is that the trademark of being "smart" is in areas like politics. And in areas like politics people can latch on to a couple issues that they think that they are right about and run with it.

I'm no exception so this isn't a criticism. being smart is so much broader than normal conversation topics. Normally people only go skin deep and that is where people get stupid.

Louis CK said "If you study something and you find all this stuff about it, you just went skin deep, so if you keep going and going, you should be left with a ****ing mess of unanswered questions." He is totally right and that quote is why most people think they are smart. It's the perfect explanation for my TED generation of idiots.

[falc39]

This is nothing new and it is not restricted to intelligence. People tend to think they are better than most people in everything from driving ability to relationships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority

[oarabbus]

True.

Do you ever think to yourself... wow... I know I'm not that smart in the grand scheme... but most everyone around me is a ****ing retard? I have that thought all the time.


You are either insanely smart, or hang out around a bunch of idiots

[Dresta]

Is the case in point the psychologist who spent a decade investigating a self-evident platitude so that he could give it a label bearing his own name? (as if the self-perception of the young doesn't fluctuate dramatically anyway, not to mention that this isn't a matter so much of intelligence, but of human pride and vanity: it is hard for a human being to consider himself below the average, in fact, it is probably rather counter-productive). Vanity distorts perceptions massively, in the intelligent and unintelligent alike - it is unavoidable.

I bet many intelligent people would overestimate their ability at basketball, for example (provided it is something they take seriously; people can admit deficiency in things they don't care about), and certainly their effectiveness as a partner and/or parent. It's impossible as a human being not to evaluate oneself comparatively, and very, very few individuals contrast themselves unfavourably with the bulk of mankind. Also, stupid people like to boast, because deep down, most of them are insecure, and have a nagging awareness of how ignorant they truly are (and so grow resentful and distrustful of their betters, usually elevating themselves moralistically, calling the other hateful names, and so on - thus why the pious and the 'good' are nearly always also the stupid, because this is the only way they can make up for their stupidity: faith in the herd, in the wisdom of the majority, and other democratic shibboleths).

Democracy as the manifestation of the Dunning-Kruger effect?

:banana:

[DonD13]

Is the case in point the psychologist who spent a decade investigating a self-evident platitude so that he could give it a label bearing his own name? (as if the self-perception of the young doesn't fluctuate dramatically anyway, not to mention that this isn't a matter so much of intelligence, but of human pride and vanity: it is hard for a human being to consider himself below the average, in fact, it is probably rather counter-productive). Vanity distorts perceptions massively, in the intelligent and unintelligent alike - it is unavoidable.

I bet many intelligent people would overestimate their ability at basketball, for example (provided it is something they take seriously; people can admit deficiency in things they don't care about), and certainly their effectiveness as a partner and/or parent. It's impossible as a human being not to evaluate oneself comparatively, and very, very few individuals contrast themselves unfavourably with the bulk of mankind. Also, stupid people like to boast, because deep down, most of them are insecure, and have a nagging awareness of how ignorant they truly are (and so grow resentful and distrustful of their betters, usually elevating themselves moralistically, calling the other hateful names, and so on - thus why the pious and the 'good' are nearly always also the stupid, because this is the only way they can make up for their stupidity: faith in the herd, in the wisdom of the majority, and other democratic shibboleths).

Democracy as the manifestation of the Dunning-Kruger effect?

:banana:

At no point in your rambling, incoherent post were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this thread is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

[Dresta]

At no point in your rambling, incoherent post were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this thread is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Sorry brah, you just can't read: it's that Dunning-Kruger Effect in effect. Betta check yo'self into a stoopid clinic.