Incompetent People Too Ignorant to Know It

Originally posted by Maxmars

news.yahoo.com...

A growing body of psychology research shows that incompetence deprives people of the ability to recognize their own incompetence. To put it bluntly, dumb people are too dumb to know it. Similarly, unfunny people don't have a good enough sense of humor to tell.

This disconnect may be responsible for many of society's problems.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.lifeslittlemysteries.com

edit on 28-2-2012 by Maxmars because: (no reason given)

edit on 28-2-2012 by Maxmars because: (no reason given)

That is a very sweeping statement!

I am not sure exactly what you mean here and I am now going to elaborate on that:

So if I hand you a violin you are competent at playing it? If you can't play it then you are INCOMPETENT.

My point being that we all cannot be good at everything! A guy who may not be the best for constructing an intellectual arguement might just be say the most amazing mason or carpenter!

I would urge people to think more about statements they make and support.

I am a very gifted guitar player (competent at this). However, I am a very retarded accountant, knowing nothing about good book keeping as it stands. Do you get my point?

Thanks!

reply to post by Maxmars


---

I'll have to agree. I happen to know too many "disillusioned zombies" who will fight tooth and nail to defend their stupidity --- all because it's their reality/dimension. Now y'all wonder why dumb people like other dumb people who elect the POTUS, who reflect their stupidity.

Originally posted by hawkiye
Heres the other side of the coin... We must all be incompetent and don't know it. Why? Because somehow all these incompetent idiots are in charge and we are subject to the whims of their incompetence while we suffer for it. So how did all these idiots get in charge if their all incompetent and we are superior in intelligence?

I tell myself the majority of people are incompetent and that's why we cannot overcome their idiocy as there is not enough people intelligent enough to stand up and get rid of them. But I have to wonder cause we are still the ones suffering for their incompetence while most of them lead charmed lives at our expense.

The ability to control rarely has anything to do with competence, it has to do with courage ... in it's various forms.

reply to post by Revolution9


Apparently this study covered off quite a few areas of 'intelligence' including emotional intelligence (which is something not factored into IQ tests)

But you're missing the point. The article in the OP is not saying 'some people are dumb'. It's saying almost everyone is dumber than they think they are.

To summarise what they did: they tested people on a variety of subjects of knowledge, then asked them how they thought they did. What they discovered is a pattern whereby the majority of people think they did much better than they actually did.

The conclusion being made is that most people think they are smarter than they actually are.

Originally posted by Shoonra
What usually happens is the "Peter Principle". These people were competent - sometimes even very competent - at lower level or different jobs, but they did so well at that they got promoted ... until finally they ended up above their level of competency. They are now at levels where they are no longer winning prizes, maybe just barely keeping their chins above water, maybe not even that good, but they did so well at simpler stuff that they - and their employers - thought they could manage this tougher position.

One is usually promoted to the level of their incompetence.

Originally posted by Snoopy1978
Conspiracy theorists who agree on the nwo as a structured global cabal which controls politicians yet go ga-ga when the latest puppet (aka messiah) spouts the tired bs they want to hear. Lmao talk all year about corrupt officials then run to the ballot box wishing their vote had any worth. Are these types either fearful cowards unwilling to see the governmental corruption that effectively enslaves them or lobotomized imbeciles that should be banned from reproducing?

Take your pick ....

A real life event of an Incompetent person happened to me today.

While backing up a my trailer into the driveway this evening an Incompetent person decided to just go around my truck and trailer. This person must have been is hurry. My trailer was just about to enter the driveway, flashers on the truck and trailer are fully visible to everyone except this person. Anyway the person drives the car up over the curb on to the side walk with half the car on the street. ( driving tilted.) Drives the car up onto my driveway, then proceeds to go around the trailer, missing the trailer with in inches. what the heck I thought. Who does stuff like this ? ('')

Did the driver know they were dumb? This driver would be excellent candidate for that test. On another note, I wonder if the researchers asked if the participant's were taking any prescription medications.

I don't buy it. I recently provoked a discussion with others on this subject, and I know that assumption (that the stupid are unaware they are stupid) but I think we are more comfortable assuming that is true, because the contrary is horrific to imagine!

Imagine someone who is mentally retarded, and very aware of their mental limitations (my sister is one of those), or just lacking in intelligence and/or certain abilities considered "normal", and aware of it (I am one of those).
Or even a person lacking a good sense of humor, that cannot change that- because they simply lack the sense that would enable them to make corrections and change it!

I've had to fight actively to keep myself from committing suicide because of this problem. It can be the expectations of others that make it clear, or the expectations of self. But in any case, I wish it were true that all of the incompetent people in the world were too stupid to percieve their incompetence, or to desire to have a "normal" level of competence. That would be so much better.
Unfortunately it just isn't always true. I'd like to know from where and who subjects of the study were chosen.
I'm wondering if they only chose people who are physically and mentally capable of being competent, but only are in act because of their unrealistic and overblown assessment of their performance. Did they take into account the people in the world who are incompetent not because of their ego being unrealistic big, but because they have actual physical, mental or emotional limitations?

Do we really need a report to tell us this?

I've read alot of comments here. I've heard tossed around descriptives like "Dumb, Stupid, Moron", etc. You guys and gals aren't familiarizing yourselves with the mental infrastructure and terminology of the 1%ers I hear you screaming about so that if the opportunity presents itself, you can step right into their shoes, are you?

The only one I saw around here that had something relevant to say about the subject at hand was 'Thought Provoker'.

TJ's claim that "All men are created equal" is both true, and not true. We all deserve respect and dignity ... and the same rights as everyone else, because we are all human beings. But, we aren't all the same. We all bring different skill sets. Some more profound than others. Those who have more have a responsibility to help those along that have less. We should value everyone's contribution, no matter how inconsequential you might think it may appear to be. Living is hard folks, for everyone.

We are all in this together, and we will all live, or die, together.

Just my opinion.

PS. How many morons, do you think, are wondering around in the gene pools of the people that made those denigrating remarks.

Originally posted by lacrimosa
so, stupid people dont realize theyre stupid.no # sherlock.
and the stupidest thing is some university probably got ridiculous funding to figure this out.

Well, as always, it pays to work with stupidity.
It amazes me (hmm perhaps not) that this is the kind of science that are being prioritized and done. Like humans do not have more important things to focus on.


I wish I could earn some money on my own level of stupidity..
I would be a billionaire!

1% here I come!!!

I've read this before, not new news, as others have already called out-in case you don't have time to skim the whole thread-. It's based on "Unskilled and Unaware of it" by Justin Kruger of the U of Illinois and David Dunning of Cornell. Publishing and study was done '99/'00. It was republished in the New York Times titled "Incompetence is Bliss" by David Rakoff, in '00.
In my conclusion and others, I'm seeing it's quite possible that; The elites effective strategy to promote this kind of self worth. Why? Because it's the easiest maneuver to control the masses.

Thus is to why it was re published again, with an agenda, on a SOCIAL MEDIA(Yahoo) news site, years after the fact.

Welcome to social conditioning's exposure, have a nice ride.

reply to post by dreamingawake


Keep providing meaningless news and the masses will not be able to skim through it all and see what is important.

This is the Dunning-Kruger Effect

en.wikipedia.org...

Elegantly (even though tragically) explains why the most brilliant people are the most self-doubting and the dumbest/most useless people are chock full of self-confidence to the point of aggressive arrogance/cockiness.

Explains why religious people are so confident and scientific people inherently skeptical.

Explains why right-wingers are so aggressively over-confident and why left-wingers are more open/questioning/diverse.

Explains why stupid people tend to take more risks with their lives/health and why more intelligent people (sans some kind of fatalistic streak) tend to worry more about their health/well-being.

sooooo, was a University and an in-depth study really necessary to tell us what "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" does regularly?

what a waste of resources, effort and general attention on the obvious, yet again.
i could be wrong here but this whole concept was encompassed in the definition of ego, quite sometime ago.

reply to post by MemoryShock


i think that it is the times we live in , no man can know everything .
people tend to specialise in their work subject these days.
i used to work as a plasterer in the construction industry ( retired now ) and i have seen so many so called tradesmen fired on the first day because it was obvious they had no idea what they were doing .
i can put my hand to most of the construction trades and make a good job of them , but i would never even consider doing a job of say , accounting or medical etc .
specialising is the way that the world works these days and as the world get more and more technologically advanced , the more people will specialise

I see now that this isn't refering to people who lack intelligence or ability- is is about those who lack knowledge and skills.
I am aware of this phenomenon, and it is seen everyday. Quite simply we don't know what we don't know. But as Einstein pointed out, as your knowledge grows, like a circle widening in circumference, the horizon grows, and you become more and more aware of how much there is to learn! The more you know, the more aware you are of how little you know.

So the "stupid people are too stupid to know their stupid" is invalid and irrelevant to this article. Stupidity is not lack of knowledge, education, experience or skills. It is lack of intelligence, which can be present despite the absence of all these things.

The article is rather misleading in the way it was written.

But the concept of how well can we know ourselves without the reflection and feedback of others? is one that has fascinated me for a while. I see it as necessary- at leats in part. Alone we can evaluate our emotions and intents- I can know what is in my heart, what I feel and what I'd like to do or be.
But whether that is actually being manifested successfully through my actions or words (therefore becoming "real") I can only know through the feedback I get from the exterior and others.

Raise a child with only positive reinforcement, they end up completely oblivious to their faults and weaknesses, because they didn't get feedback on that.
Raise a child with only negative enforcement, they end up oblivious to their gifts and strengths, because they didn't get feedback on that.

There is also a level of "awareness of other" that varies and effects the awareness of self.. I know someone who is convinced that everyone loves him, and is thrilled and excited by whatever he is saying or doing or showing them in every moment. He does not notice the subtle signs the person (s) are bored, irritated, or turned off by what he is doing (he tends to repeat the same stories and jokes over and over to the same people, so this happens often). If you talk to him later, you see he really believes that they loved it. (in his case, his belief he is adored makes him a rather warm and loving person, so it isn't a huge problem, people are willing to put up with that- his view becomes partly true).

But others seem to be highly aware of all the subtle reactions of others in every second, of the unspoken indecisveness, irritation, ambiguity... even if it is only 20% of the total reaction they are feeling inside, these people pick up on all of it and evaluating themselves even judging if an act or word they said was "correct" or incorrect, becomes very difficult, and stressful.

Self awareness and awareness of other seem highly intertwined to me.

Thanks for the share OP . Nice find

Wow, I never thought I'd see it here but it makes a lot of sense. A friend showed me the dunning-kruger effect wiki page a while back because of a QUESTIONABLE roommate's behavior and his reasoning behind it.

(of which we had no understanding) then he showed me the wiki page..

We now understand why some people are, the way they are.

Ironically, the people who would be most benefitted from an honest look at this study are the same people who won't even register that it was about them.

As a teacher, I see this every day.

That is why the 'bad' kids are a behavior problem. They are confident that they know all they need to know, whereas the smart kids are unsure enough to listen to the teacher, in the very real possiblity that they do not know it all.

Those of you who have said that this study was a useless waste of money and resources obviously do not understand how science works.

Maybe just go back and read it again... There may still be hope for you yet.