There's a simple explanation for why incompetent people think they're geniuses

Charles Darwin wrote in his book, The Descent of Man, "Ignorance breeds confidence more often than knowledge." 

These words perfectly capture the essence of the Dunning-Kruger effect, i.e. a cognitive error that causes one to overestimate one's abilities. We explain what this phenomenon is and how to recognise it.

The Dunning-Kruger effect was researched and described by two psychologists from Cornell University: David Dunning and Justin Kruger. According to their theory, people with limited knowledge and competences in a given intellectual or social field significantly overestimate their capabilities, while highly qualified people tend to underestimate their skills. Sounds familiar?

Each of us has a knowledge zone in which we lack competence - even those with a very high IQ, because the Dunning-Kruger effect does not mean its lack. You can be a great specialist in chemistry, but have no idea about contemporary painting. 

To be able to recognise our own shortcomings in a given field, we must have practical knowledge about it - which is obvious, because no one can be a professional in every area.

We can talk about the Dunning-Kruger effect when people believe that they know everything and no one is smarter than them. The point is that generally people with low ability do not have the skills necessary to recognise their own incompetence. This combination of poor self-awareness and low cognitive abilities leads them to overestimate their abilities.

In practice, it usually looks like the interlocutor is trying to prove his point at all costs and is unable to accept any criticism. He is so convinced of his knowledge and infallibility that any other opinion is stupid and wrong to him. Although this phenomenon was not scientifically studied until the end of the 20th century, it is well known to all of us.

How to explain this psychological effect? Dunning and Kruger suggest that this phenomenon is due to a "double burden." Not only are people incompetent, but their incompetence robs them of the mental capacity to realise how inept they are. Added to this is the fact that they usually tend to overestimate their own skills and underestimate others - they are simply unable to recognise their own mistakes. 

The Dunning-Kruger effect is also associated with difficulties in metacognition, which involves the ability to step back and look at one's behavior from the outside. People burdened in this way can very often evaluate themselves only from their own, limited and highly subjective point of view. It is therefore not surprising that from this perspective they seem highly qualified, competent and better than others.

"If you are incompetent, you cannot know that you are incompetent. The skills you need to produce a good answer are the same skills you need to recognise whether it is actually good," explains Dunning himself.

Perhaps the most common example given when describing this cognitive error is the case of Donald Trump, who, despite questionable qualifications in the field of politics, became the president of the United States - all thanks to his enormous self-confidence and the ability to convince others about it.

And here the question arises: are we able to recognise the Dunning-Kruger effect in real life situations and deal with it somehow? 

Although convincing someone who considers himself infallible is likely to be doomed to failure, we can try to have a constructive conversation on a specific topic. If our interlocutor is unable to accept any of our arguments and stubbornly convinces us of his uninformed reasons, there is a good chance that he is dealing with the Dunning-Kruger effect.

The truth is, however, that all of us are susceptible to this phenomenon and we probably experience it on a regular basis. People who are true experts in one field may falsely believe that their knowledge transfers to other areas with which they are less familiar. 

Therefore, it is always worth being open to the arguments of others and confronting your own knowledge.

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This article was originally published on Onet Woman.