what is the dunning-kruger effect why is
it important and what can you do about
it a form of cognitive bias the
dunning-kruger effect demonstrates that
across all ability levels we most often
misjudge our own performance relative to
our peers we fail to accurately estimate
our abilities while those with low skill
let's call them novices grossly
overestimate their ability those with
relative high skill experts slightly
underestimate and the reason for this
type of error is what makes the
dunning-kruger effect so interesting in
that both low and high skill individuals
are largely ignorant or unaware of the
error in other words regardless of skill
level we most often lack the knowledge
required to accurately assess our own
performance now generally speaking the
consequences for a novice overestimating
their ability is relatively low for
instance overestimating how good you are
at scene or dancing isn't typically
dangerous in fact it probably makes it
easier to stay motivated and belt out
some karaoke if you're unaware of
exactly how bad you are
however the same cannot be said for
skills such as driving or swimming
overestimating your ability in these
areas can be deadly for instance drivers
with less than six months behind the
wheel and then found to be eight times
more likely to be involved in a fatal
crash and the dunning-kruger effect does
not only affect novices there are also
the high skill individuals or experts
that slightly underestimate their
ability while consequences of this type
of error are also generally low there
are still some implications to consider
specifically high skill individuals
assume others are equally capable they
do not recognize their performance as
anything special therefore for good or
bad high skill individuals sometimes
unintentionally contribute to peer
pressure failing to realize other
are not as capable a deadly combination
then the dunning-kruger effect in for
example result in high and low skill
swimmers together both ignorant of their
true abilities looking over in an island
the high skill individual does not see
this one is anything difficult at the
same time the low skill individual is
unable to recognize the potential danger
the expert swimmer thinks anyone can
make it and the novice doesn't realize
that they can't make it they start to
swim towards the island and tragedy
follows so what can you do about the
dunning-kruger effect given that the
major challenge in addressing the
dunning-kruger effect is that we don't
know what we don't know this can be a
tough situation to resolve but there are
several potential ways to avoid or
minimize the effects including rejecting
the use of peer comparison as an
alternative establish objective measures
and solicit frequent feedback regarding
your performance this is a meta decision
whereby you actively scaffold your
learning comparing your performance
today against your previous performance
this can help avoid the use of making
peer comparisons next break down a goal
into the necessary subtasks focusing on
specific rather than general abilities
research has shown that the more
specific a task the harder it is to
maintain an illusion of being better
than we actually are
for example it is easier to make the
general claim that you're great at using
tools for home repair than it is to make
the more specific statement that you are
awesome with a power saw last seek out
qualified mentors note these are not
individuals within your peer group
these are credential professionals that
can accelerate the learning process
providing formal instruction that
includes objective and timely feedback
this allows you to make a quicker
transition from novice to intermediate
and then advanced towards becoming an
expert in summary the dunning-kruger
effect is a form of cognitive bias that
is largely a result of using peer
comparison
when we compare ourselves to others we
risk the consequences of making
inaccurate judgments of our own
abilities