Post by Tamrin on May 9, 2010 9:37:36 GMT 10
The light of a Master Mason is but darkness visible,
that is, ignorance realised, for there is no greater darkness than ignorance not realised
Kent Henderson
*
that is, ignorance realised, for there is no greater darkness than ignorance not realised
Kent Henderson
*
Most of us have experienced the frustration of expressing an educated opinion and having others, with little or no prior consideration of the issue at hand, express vehement disagreement, (the strength of which usually appears to be in inverse proportion to their actual knowledge of that issue and when no amount of facts or logic will suffice to have them open their minds). In short, they are not aware of their own relative incompetence regarding an issue BECAUSE of that very incompetence. Conversely, the competent are aware of the uncertainties and complexities of an issue and are often hesitant about being too dogmatic (they also tend to credit others with competence, at least regarding the basics). This phenomenon has come to be known as the Dunning Kruger effect and appears to be characteristic of much on-line debate.
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which "people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it." The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average, much higher than in actuality; by contrast, the highly skilled underrate their abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority. This leads to a perverse result where less competent people will rate their own ability higher than more competent people. It also explains why actual competence may weaken self-confidence because competent individuals falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding. "Thus, the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others."
The phenomenon was demonstrated in a series of experiments performed by Justin Kruger and David Dunning, then both of Cornell University. Their results were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in December 1999. However, the phenomenon had been assumed by many philosophers for nearly a century prior to Kruger and Dunning's study (see Russell quote above).
Kruger and Dunning noted a number of previous studies which tend to suggest that in skills as diverse as reading comprehension, operating a motor vehicle, and playing chess or tennis, "ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" (as Charles Darwin put it). They hypothesized that with a typical skill which humans may possess in greater or lesser degree:
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
— William Butler Yeats
"In the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
— Bertrand Russell
HypothesesThe phenomenon was demonstrated in a series of experiments performed by Justin Kruger and David Dunning, then both of Cornell University. Their results were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in December 1999. However, the phenomenon had been assumed by many philosophers for nearly a century prior to Kruger and Dunning's study (see Russell quote above).
Kruger and Dunning noted a number of previous studies which tend to suggest that in skills as diverse as reading comprehension, operating a motor vehicle, and playing chess or tennis, "ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" (as Charles Darwin put it). They hypothesized that with a typical skill which humans may possess in greater or lesser degree:
1. Incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their own level of skill.The authors draw an analogy with anosognosia—a condition in which a person who suffers a physical disability due to brain injury seems unaware of or denies the existence of the disability. This may include unawareness of quite dramatic impairments, such as blindness or paralysis.
2. Incompetent individuals fail to recognize genuine skill in others.
3. Incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy.
4. If they can be trained to substantially improve their own skill level, these individuals can recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill.
Ignorance is bliss