what is the dunning-kruger effect well the Internet is awash with rubbish
information delivered by people who are absolutely sure of what they're talking
about what's wrong though in believing something you read or following advice
that is delivered confidently and with certainty in an online pet forum or
anywhere on the Internet in this video I discuss why not knowing what you don't
know can result in ridiculous confidence and just how you can protect yourself
from following terrible advice online Hi I'm Dr. alex avery from ourpetshealth.com
helping you and your pet to live a healthier happier life and welcome to
this third video in my evidence matters series now today I want to talk to you
about the dunning-kruger effect and don't worry it's pretty simple it is
named after two psychologists and the dunning-kruger effect goes something
like this if someone knows nothing about the topic
they are generally aware they know nothing they won't try and pretend
otherwise and they certainly won't have strong
opinions or views on the subject things very quickly get pretty interesting
though as some learning takes place now you've probably heard the phrase that a
little knowledge can be a dangerous thing well as someone starts to learn
about your topic the amount they think they know about it climbs at an
exponential rate in fact after gaining only a really small amount of
information relative to the total amount there is to know about a subject many
people will actually start to consider themselves as pretty much experts now
we've probably all been there to a certain degree as well we learn a couple
of basic principles and all of a sudden think that we've got the topic cracked
alternatively we start to learn a new skill and after a short time of
practicing we start to feel pretty confident in our ability now how certain
you are of your knowledge or ability it probably depends a lot on your
personality as well but it is this group though that are often post and comment
prolifically in facebook groups and other online forums not only do they
post a lot which in itself is fine but they're also brimming with
confidence no quick to argue or even ridicule anyone who dares contradict or
question their particular viewpoint they will also take pride in the fact that
they are completely self-taught and will compare their knowledge to people who
are recognized expert in the field you'll have come across
these people many times I'm sure their favorite phrases that you might read or
they might say might be do your own research don't be brainwashed and I've
even been told to get my head out to the sand when I dared questions someone's a
cetacean that chocolate is not in fact poisonous to dogs it never occurs to
these people that doing your own research by reading the first page that
agrees with your point of view in a Google search is simply no substitute
for actually studying the topic at length over many years these people
simply do not know what they don't know and this is the dunning-kruger effect
now of course people can and do become experts in a field through self-study
and personal development but I would suggest that the way these people
communicate is actually very different from our ignorant experts now the graph
continues and if they actually continue to learn about the subject properly they
will come to realize how much more there is to know they realize that there is
more to the topic from their first thought and as a result their perception
of their own expert status actually plummets and in fact their former expert
opinion of their own knowledge levels almost drops back down to zero previous
confidence is replaced by a feeling that they are never going to get to grips
with the subject at all it is then a slow and steady climb back up to the
giddy heights of expert status and things start to make sense again slowly
but surely experts start to appreciate that they do know a lot yet at the same
time they will acknowledge that things are complicated and even then though a
truth a true expert may actually end up selling themselves short they still feel
that they know less than the self-appointed experts with very little
knowledge in a lot of cases this may be due to something like impostor syndrome
which is something I've talked about in a guest video on the rewired soul that
I'll link up here so this is what the dunning-kruger effect is how though can
you protect yourself from advice given by ignorant experts on internet forums
with facebook groups in blog post and instead recognize true expert advice now
to answer this I'd encourage you to take a look at the website trust or trash
Borg and I'll put a link down below which guides you through a number of
questions and three main groups to help you decide if you should trust what you
are reading in a pet forum or anywhere else online in print or even in the
flesh and first up is the question who said it
you should think about trusting the source of the author's name their
background and experience levels are easy to find also if they appear to be
well respected in their community than that is an encouraging sign as well on
the other hand if you can't find who wrote something or if you know their
name but little else about them disregarding the information may
actually be safer and tie to all this it's the question of where the
information came from are the sources listed or hidden do the sources have
experience in the area being discussed and do they have a commercial element to
them there's something to consider now the second question to consider is when
the information was given with pet health care some areas of our knowledge
and understanding and best practices are changing really quickly information
delivered ten years ago may not be as up-to-date as that given in the last six
months now this is not true in all cases by any means but information seems out
of date compared to other things you've read and it probably is now the final
question to think about when it comes to separating the good from the bad is how
do they know is it based on multiple sources of peer reviewed papers or is it
instead based on information based solely on personal opinion or personal
experience of a single person or a minority within that field and lastly
does the information seem reasonable does it make sense based on everything
you've read and understand does it actually seem too good to be true or too
simplified if the answer to that is yes then that probably is too good to be
true so these are all questions you can ask yourself to stop you getting taken
for a ride by someone suffering from dunning-kruger effect they're most
likely only trying to help but remember they simply don't know what they don't
know now if one answer suggests you should not trust the information it
doesn't necessarily mean you should completely disregard it instantly it
just means you should keep it in your mind that there might be an issue and
take it as a single piece of the puzzle to find the answer or advice you're
looking for now I've said it before you should always double or triple check
anything you read online about any topic and while I'd love to say that my
articles are the only thing you need to read about any of the topics that I've
written about that would just be ridiculous you should definitely go to
other sites to corroborate what I say make sure you come back again
and you should definitely rate the advice of your pets personal debt above
all other sources they are the only ones who have had a proper consultation with
you who have examined your pet ants that ask questions I'm an ordered and
interpreted any test results in relation to your pet specifically you know we
don't know each other personally and I've never examined your pet something
you may read may give you a talking point to explore with your vet the best
way to go about managing the health or the illness of your dog or cat it should
definitely not result though in your rejecting everything your vet has told
you if what is written is the complete opposite of what they have said bodies
and organs are incredibly complex and what is right for one pet may be
completely wrong for another having a personal that you can trust is one of
the most important relationships you will have in respect to optimizing and
maintaining your pets health so take care out there and remember anyone can
write anything online make sure you join me next time I release videos every
Tuesday and Thursday if you've got any questions please leave me a comment down
below and until next time i'm dr. alex from our pets health because they're
family