The Dunning-Kruger Effect Analysis

The Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE) is a phenomenon where unskilled individuals assess their abilities as much higher than is accurate. David Dunning explains this issue in his article “We Are All Confident Idiots.” While his detailed descriptions and inclusion of several studies brings to light this problem that each and every one of us is afflicted by, his tone and use of provocative language may be interpreted by readers as arrogant and crude. In addition, his pessimistic tone does little to encourage his audience to actively seek solutions to the problem. Dunning references several studies in his article. These studies help to inform the readers of the actual facts and psychology surrounding his argument. He introduces these as a “whole
Dunning makes reference to Jimmy Kimmel’s “Lie Witness News” segment. In this part of his show, he goes around and asks people simple questions. The catch is these questions are riddled with fallacies. These questions are meant to put people on the spot. No one wants to seem unintelligent so they often reply to the question even if they don’t truly know the answer. In his article Dunning states that “the most confident sounding people seem to have something that assures them about their answers.” That being fact, memory or intuition. In one of his segments, Jimmy asks people what they think about Tonya and the Hardings, what the interviewers describe as a “hard-hitting” band. People spew out responses like, “ Yeah, a lot of men have been talking about them.” Further adding that women aren’t really big fans. People who keep up with current events most likely have heard of Tonya Harding. But when they hear her name in a different, unfamiliar context, it can be difficult to associate them as “Oh yeah, Tonya Harding the olympic ice skater.” Confabulation is a psychological term used to describe this, to fill in the gaps of one’s memory with fabrications that one believes to be facts. Dunning portrays these individuals highlighted in Jimmy’s segment as idiots, one might say even, confident idiots. This is a harsh label for these people especially when these shows edit out the “I don’t know” responses to carefully curate their intended clip, make people look stupid. The use of this example in Dunning’s article creates doubt in his argument. Instead of using negative language, he could have spun this example into a positive one by explaining the psychology of