Why Narcissists Overestimate Their Abilities: The Dunning-Kruger Effect Explained

9 out of 10 people are stupid, but they actually think, that their confidence is made up of knowledge, instead of ignorance. The world is mired in mediocracy because it's led by stupid people with a lot of confidence.

Accurate self appraisal - EXACTLY!

Dr. R., just summarized the entire population of tech folks in Silicon Valley.

Today is the final day to claim your $3319 government food credit allowance.

What doesn’t help is that nowadays lots of people adopt the “fake it till you make it” approach in their chosen field. It’s like a mantra and people learn it from each other. They are actually teaching each other to pretend they are good at something when they aren’t (yet). It is basically the Dunner-Kruger effect in full swing. Another thing is that folks tend to overpraise each other nowadays and I see this a lot on social media. It’s not only about abilities in a profession but just lots of fake, unnecessary praise that the person doesn’t actually deserve. So all this fake praise goes into people’s head and they start to believe they are something better/more than they actually are. It’s a slippery slope.

Hi Dr Ramani and everyone! I knew 2 people like that in my life, and I'm sorry I met them. I don't want to say what I'm thinking, but when someone doesn't listen to you when you're "training" them, you do become exhausted. Yes, I did feel like kicking one of them in the ass!

Sounds like one of our former presidents

Recently i realise there must be strong connection between this effect and narcs.Most people i know are not full blown narcs(maybe myself included!),but have many narc like tendencies.The more self loving symptoms there are ,this effect is always present.And hypocricy.
But thank you for this enlightening video.

Recently I was replaced with someone with less qualifications then me SPECIFICALLY hired BECAUSE of having, and this is my Dean's own words, "the minimum required background."

Remind you of any self declared; but NOT- billanaires you know?!

the one thing ive found by dealing w many of them during my life, be it high IQ, or low IQ, its their arrogance that makes them all equally dumber than bricks.

It's exhausting being around this type of person. Overestimation is a lot like breathing for my wife, and heaven help anybody who questions or doubts her.

Im not sure if you can recognize the effect when youre younger. When I was 18 , I assumed I understood everything. Now at 42 , I realized I dont understand anything fully.

... i love it ..

It's always fun when someone tries to talk down to me about one of the subjects or things I've got significant skill in. Those who know me always tell me that I'm far more skilled or smart or whatever than I tend to suggest as well. But it is kinda fun sometimes to completely correct someone who is way overconfident about something I have actual skill or knowledge in. Call it a guilty pleasure. I'm never mean about it. But that might actually be worse.

US "politics"?

Attend to the Uptalking please 😖

And into this is tied the effects the properly qualified experiencing imposter syndrome.

It's the lead in the water and air

They think there smart

It’s like you know what I’m going through 😂.

This is only half the story. Dunning-Kruger people tend to be really good at sales jobs (and many times CEO is in essence a sales job). It seems like the vast majority of non-engineering spectrum people really just want to find an expert and then just turn their brain off. In addition to industry, this ruins politics and dating as well.

i'm only researching this because i asked FreedonGPT i asked: "why do the most intelligent people feel dumb but the most stupid people think they are really smart?" and it brought up the Dunning-Kruger effect
the truth is allot of people think i am smart but i don't ever feel like i know anything at all! but the truth is i have taken time and research everything! the before now and after! but i believe spelling my weak spot holds myself back!
i honestly can Cook wonderful meats and think so myself how can't most people cook its really easy when you do it all by smell! you cook wonderful meals that way!
one thing in 2010 i learned i was a "Visual-spatial thinkers" but i lack the ability of using my skills wisely

“Some people have no idea what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.”
― George Carlin

Big eyes = crazy

Are you talking about the people running the world?

Amen

I feel like this effect is becoming more and more common, plus people around them are stroking their egos rather than challenging or even questioning them to help them to grow. I seriously worry about the future of society because of it.

Just watch the audition episodes for American idol if you need quick concrete examples of what Dr. R. is talking about. Watch the contestants who brag and boast about how their singing talents. The loud and cocky ones always suck. 99% of the contestants with true talent never act like that. I can’t think of a single exception.

People who know (are aware of) what they don't know are cautions.
People who don't know (are not aware of) what they don't know are dangerous.

Omg my soon to be ex husband has this effect to the extreme!

I've worked with folks who are all talk, who claim that they know how to do specific projects, but come the deadline, they didn't do them and consistently "need more time". These folks were so tough to work with, because everyone else has to pick up the slack, and supervisors still think they're competent because they boast about being "great" 🤦‍♀

I knew about the DK effect before watching this. The first two minutes of this video summed up my 2022 job. It was maddening because the two people that did this the most were the owners that I had to work with daily. Then they tried to act like it was something I was doing. It took a toll one that just after working there one year, it took me 6 months to feel like myself again. Don't hang around in this stupidity. Great video.

Oh gosh, this is so true. He thinks he knows everything. Yet he continues to fail. How does this make sense?

I was reading about the poorly constructed research that claims to prove the "effect". Its basically a wise tale. Its based on a questionnaire that doesnt determine whether or not people are stupid. Instead they base it on knowledge. They considered the people with the most knowledge of the 45 questions to be smart. No IQ. No GPA history. Just if you did better on the questionnaire you were automatically considered smart and if you didnt do well you were stupid. The only thing it proved is that people who scored the lowest consistently thought they would finsh avove average.

Thanks for explaining this, I now recognize this for what it is/was.
Have worked with many of these types,in the army people of promoted to their level of in competence.
And in polotics Donald Trump comes to mind.

Sorry to be political. We see the Dunning-Kruger effect in today's Republican Party 🥳. I'm saying this as a former Republican.

like life coaches ?

I think there are a couple of phenomena around the Dunning-Kruger effect that play out in institutions, to the detriment of society. Positions of high responsibility are disproportionately selected for the appearance of confidence, while people with real competence often reluctant to seek such positions, because they have the self-awareness to understand what it will cost them. They are also often more interested in the sense of meaning that contributing in production - rather than overseeing it from on high - gives them. In my experience, highly competent people often have a much lower status insecurity than the egomaniacal incompetents who end up leaving a trail of destruction behind the on the way to the top.

Narcissistic Dunning Kruger Effect has a lot to do with seduction. These are basically narcissistic people trying to be seductive and basically lying about their abilities and future faking stuff and pretending to know stuff because their ego is big... They are trying to sell their fish.

My husbands electric work in our house was so poorly done the wiring was damaged and dangerous. The electrician who did the repairs was mortified on the mess. And the danger. He thinks he’s good at stuff he should avoid. Mostly incompetence at anything! He can’t make a sandwich. Eternally a child, demanding like he’s an emperor.

Dunning-Kruger almost sounds like the "Peter Principle" where least competent person gets promoted to the top.

This was a few years ago but it was former member of my viking reenactment group: didn't have a craft of his own, and didn't know his history, but thought he was an expert on everyone else's. Wasn't a parent or have any experience with kids but thought he was childcare expert but what he was telling me to do with my kids was basically abusive (like take all their clothes, toys and furniture from their rooms if they didn't keep them tidy). Drove me mad. I eventually had to tell him to go away and that I actually knew what I was doing, and that if he told me how to 'parent' my kids again that I would punch him. He did actually leave me in peace after that.

Ah, would that life was so simple. Job descriptions do not often outline ALL the expectations of a job holder, just like dysfunctional families have lots of secret uncommunicated rules. Also, a colleague or other staff may have very different expectations of a job holder than management and expectations may be highly situational and constantly changing. So I ask, who among us is really in the best position to evaluate and judge the competency of a job holder.

You have described my X Mother in Law to an absolute "T". Demonized and Inept.
Unteachable.....Don't Know and doesn't want to know! At 91 yrs old.....shes worse now than she was at 45.....A life lived in idocey and devoid of a soul! Burning a Path to Hell!!!!
Running as fast as I can!!! Leaving her in the Dust!!!!! Thanks Dr. R. What eould we do without you????

Dr. Ramani you’ve just described every man I’ve ever known! They all think they’re prophets and clueless megalomaniacs!

Humility is the most overlooked...without it You CANNOT be Grounded and therefore CANNOT HEAL!!!

The Roy children - learning to be a**holes before learning business