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- Two American psychologists have discovered that incompetent
people have no idea how inept they are. In a study that will confirm many
long-held prejudices, they have found that whereas people who can do things
well underrate their abilities the truly incompetent remain in blissful
ignorance.
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- According to David Dunning, of Cornell University, and
Justin Kruger, of the University of Illinois, this makes them suffer twice.
"Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate
choices, but also their incompetence robs them of the ability to realise
it," they write in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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- The skills required for competence are the same skills
necessary for recognising it, they say, after carrying out tests.
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- They found that those who scored in the bottom quarter
in tests of logic, grammar and humour were also those most likely to have
delusions of competence, grossly overestimating their own abilities.
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- Asked to evaluate how well they had done at the logic
test, those who scored in the bottom eighth reckoned that their ability
was in the top third. Those in the bottom tenth in grammar also considered
that their ability put them in the top third.
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- Those who really were in the top third, however, tended
to underestimate themselves. This is because, in the absence of information
about how well others do, highly competent people tend to assume that others
are just as competent.
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- When shown other people's work, however, the competent
soon revised their opinion; but the incompetent did not - some even inflated
their self- estimates. The results, the psychologists say, support the
assertion by Thomas Jefferson that "he who knows best knows how little
he knows".
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- What, though, if Dunning and Kruger are incompetent and
have failed to recognise it? In the report they acknowledge that possibility.
"This article may contain faulty logic, methodological errors or poor
communication," they write. "Let us assure our readers that to
the extent the article is imperfect, it is not a sin we have committed
knowingly."
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