The Dunning – Kruger Effect is something we’re all susceptible to. It’s basically “not knowing what you don’t know”. I see it often in health, fitness, and wellness as well as other fields. A lot of people don’t know what they don’t know, even worse they aren’t interested in learning it. This makes them overconfident, no matter what field it is, and oddly at times they can acquire a following of people who don’t know either. So it’s a negative feedback loop.
These types are vulnerable to hucksters and frauds. There is objective truth but an inquisitive, skeptical, and humble posture about the nature of things and getting to the truth is a much more ethical approach and a better way to lead and work with others. Also, your grandma’s wisdom is often better than “science”, especially social “science” because of mistaking correlation with causation, and from a general misuse of science for ideological purposes.
Remember “don’t wear a mask” back in Feb? Many people practicing science don’t even know what science is, in respect to the greater fields of knowledge and truth, and where science belongs in a hierarchy of values. Quick example: from a scientific perspective a beautiful painting is just dyes and a canvas, and music is just notes, but in truth it is much much more than that, it’s beauty, transcendence, goodness, inspiration, initiates a culture, and tells a story and puts a human face on material things, among other things. Good remedies for the Dunning – Kruger Effect: 1) Humility 2) Wonder & Awe 3) Do No Harm 4) Ask a lot of questions (the Socratic Method).
