Dunning-Kruger Effect
A cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and stems from the inability of the unskilled to recognize their own incompetence.
Examples
- A novice chess player who thinks they are ready for a tournament after learning the rules
- A new programmer who believes they can build a complex app in a weekend
- Someone who reads one article on a topic and considers themselves an expert
Why It Happens
The skills needed to be competent at a task are often the same skills needed to evaluate competence. If you lack the former, you also lack the latter.
How to Counteract
- Seek honest feedback from knowledgeable people
- Regularly test your knowledge against objective standards
- Cultivate intellectual humility — assume you might be wrong