As we go through our day-to-day lives we meet many people and learn many things. There are so many fields that we can specialize in and pick up as hobbies like studying science, being an expert in history, archeology, and painting like the Renaissance masters. But are people truly as good as they claim to be? Are they really an expert in their craft? Why do some people think they know everything there is to know when their knowledge is not as vast as they thought? These were some of the questions on my mind as I observed the people around me. Could I be falling into the same trap?

  For the past few years, I have noticed that some of the people around me seem to know everything that there is to know about a topic when they are really just repeating the same facts and phases over and over again. Often, I see them spew basic information as if it were unknown and information known only by professionals. I’ve seen it happen with my classmates, friends, and even family. Usually, it would be with those who were loud, and talkative, and interrupted people when they were talking. Over time I found this to be really annoying and my patience with people “like them” (105) decreased exponentially, especially when I would ask a question they couldn’t answer or god forbid they just ignored me.

Then one day in class I learned about the Dunning-Kruger effect: “The Unknown Unknowns”. People’s “Difficulties of Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence” became more noticeable. I was able to relate this back to my own peers and a bit to myself, trying to see if I really knew as much about the world as I originally thought. I learned that to avoid the Dunning-Kruger effect, I had to be more self-aware and be able to take in constructive criticism. It is good to be open to learning and not to be ignorant. Remember, anyone regardless of skill or knowledge level can fall into the Dunning-Kruger effect!