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Sigh. DK, as commonly cited, is not simply "competence." It hypothesizes a meta-cognitive bias whereby a person who is incompetent is cognitively incapable of
by ben509 7y ago
Sigh. DK, as commonly cited, is not simply "competence."
It hypothesizes a meta-cognitive bias whereby a person who is incompetent is cognitively incapable of determining their level of competence.
Everyone has biases, and the reason citing DK may come across the wrong way is it tends to suggest that it's just Other People who have those biases.
From this piece[1] arguing that we routinely misinterpret DK:
> I suspect we find this sort of explanation compelling because it appeals to our implicit just-world theories: we’d like to believe that people who obnoxiously proclaim their excellence at X, Y, and Z must really not be so very good at X, Y, and Z at all, and must be (over)compensating for some actual deficiency.
But, generally, if the question of competence comes up, don't reflexively cite DK. It's been around for ages, it's not novel, and it's usually being miscited.
[1]: https://www.talyarkoni.org/blog/2010/07/07/what-the-dunning-kruger-effect-is-and-isnt/ https://www.talyarkoni.org/blog/2010/07/07/what-the-dunning-...
- Gunax 7y agoI am not sure I understand. It sounds like DK claim that assessing one's own competence is difficult (perhaps impossible). I don't see how that conflicts with the title. It is asking for a test that can assess one's rough ability.
- ben509 7y agoIt's not contradictory. My point is it's counterproductive to bring DK into the picture, and I'm pushing back against the way it's used in popular culture. (So, absolutely tilting at windmills, but oh well.) First, it's adding a false veneer of scientism. All it's asking for is a rough test of competence; citing a wholly irrelevant science paper won't make that test grounded in any kind of methodology. Second, there's this implied moral condemnation of people who are incompetent. Obviously, we're all incompetent in most things, so that's a strange thing to moralize. But the way DK is used in popular culture, there's an added dimension of, "this arrogant idiot thinks he's competent, but my test really took him down a peg."