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The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

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21–30 of 155 posts

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#21
post #13

I see this sort of thing on Hacker News all the time. Programmers that are, I'm sure, the top of their field comment in threads about biology or something out of their field with the most silly and wrong answers. A thread about nutrition or something out of their realm of expertise on here is about as useful as reading a Facebook or YouTube comment chain. That doesn't stop them from speaking authoritatively about it.…

Luckily most of the people here, if they wanted, could easily get an entry-level education in any field, because they know how to study from books, can get access to the material, etc.

Potential is not reality.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#22
post #13

I see this sort of thing on Hacker News all the time. Programmers that are, I'm sure, the top of their field comment in threads about biology or something out of their field with the most silly and wrong answers. A thread about nutrition or something out of their realm of expertise on here is about as useful as reading a Facebook or YouTube comment chain. That doesn't stop them from speaking authoritatively about it.…

Luckily most of the people here, if they wanted, could easily get an entry-level education in any field, because they know how to study from books, can get access to the material, etc.

Why would I? Surely the point is that I'm an expert on everything already.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#23

I see this sort of thing on Hacker News all the time. Programmers that are, I'm sure, the top of their field comment in threads about biology or something out of their field with the most silly and wrong answers. A thread about nutrition or something out of their realm of expertise on here is about as useful as reading a Facebook or YouTube comment chain. That doesn't stop them from speaking authoritatively about it.…

For some reason, computer nerds think they know it all :-)

Good ones don't... just like any field...

"Intelligent" people know how much they don't know... "Stupid" or "ignorant" know everything and want you to know it.

Doctors, Mechanics, ... nerds... no one group is immune to this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

"The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability as much higher than it really is. Psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger attributed this bias to a metacognitive incapacity, on the part of those with low ability, to recognize their ineptitude and evaluate their competence accurately. Their research also suggests corollaries: high-ability individuals may underestimate their relative competence and may erroneously assume that tasks which are easy for them are also easy for others."

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason, computer nerds think they know it all :-)

Good ones don't... just like any field... "Intelligent" people know how much they don't know... "Stupid" or "ignorant" know everything and want you to know it. Doctors, Mechanics, ... nerds... no one group is immune to this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect "The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing…

With warning of anecdote rather than evidence, Doctors are the worst [1] for this! So many of them seem to think they're scientists, when the majority of them are far from it.

[1] In the hyperbolic sense; I wouldn't like to suggest a literal truth here

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason, computer nerds think they know it all :-)

Good ones don't... just like any field... "Intelligent" people know how much they don't know... "Stupid" or "ignorant" know everything and want you to know it. Doctors, Mechanics, ... nerds... no one group is immune to this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect "The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing…

I thought the most interesting aspect of these studies is that intelligent people are better at judging the intelligence of others. Those in the bottom quartile could not estimate the intelligence of peers much better than random chance. Those near the top could estimate the intelligence of others with high accuracy.

This has profound implications in hiring selection. Having exceptionally bright founders could cause a.... founder effect resulting in the entire company being much smarter than average.

Anecdotal, but I know of quite a few wildly successful companies where the founder/CEO still participates in all interviews despite having more than a thousand employees. This seems like a random company quirk but, taking this research to practice, could actually be a large part of why these companies are successful.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#26
The problem with ignorance in the internet age is you can now find sources that confirm your wrong headed ideas, entire ecosystems even.

If you haven't learned how to think before becoming an adult, I fear that you won't. Sorry for sounding condescending, but I've run into so many people who are misinformed, and let's just say "misinformed" means they don't know what the academic orthodoxy is in a given field, but they think they know the facts, and they even have theories about why other people are wrong.

I've tried to explain to a friend why vaccinations are a good idea, and I get a bunch of crap about how modern medicine doesn't work for her, and how she took a homeopathic vaccine, went to India, and didn't get ill. A half a dozen of her friends jump in with articles about how vaccines work, and she ends it with "sure but I'm skeptical".

I've been invited to a friends house to look at his "Time Waver" machine, which supposedly connects to one of your auras, and has a nice animation of how it scans every single one of someone's organs. Remotely. In fact he showed me a woman in Italy that he was helping out. First he asked me if I knew anything about quantum theory, which I don't really beyond undergrad, and then he gets excited and and spouts something about how I'll appreciate a cleansing. Good thing I can stay polite. But someone in his 40s who thinks this is how the world works is not going to have the veil of ignorance lifted.

These are just a couple of recent examples. Common to them is there's a bunch of stuff you can readily access which supports it. If you have some opinion about just about anything, you can find support for it, in fact a web of support, which will really test your reasoning skills.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#27
post #7

"The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” — Bertrand Russell

That and our psychological quirk the we mistake self-confidence for competence. The two together make a pretty combustible mixture and explain a lot, IMHO.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#28
post #13

I see this sort of thing on Hacker News all the time. Programmers that are, I'm sure, the top of their field comment in threads about biology or something out of their field with the most silly and wrong answers. A thread about nutrition or something out of their realm of expertise on here is about as useful as reading a Facebook or YouTube comment chain. That doesn't stop them from speaking authoritatively about it.…

Luckily most of the people here, if they wanted, could easily get an entry-level education in any field, because they know how to study from books, can get access to the material, etc.

Oh, yes, its so easy, thats why every programmer aquiring domain specific knowledge never makes any mistake and the software - once feature complete, always guarantees satisfied customers. We are instant experts, just add hot water and stire for five minutes.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#29

The problem with ignorance in the internet age is you can now find sources that confirm your wrong headed ideas, entire ecosystems even. If you haven't learned how to think before becoming an adult, I fear that you won't. Sorry for sounding condescending, but I've run into so many people who are misinformed, and let's just say "misinformed" means they don't know what the academic orthodoxy is in a given field, but th…

> If you haven't learned how to think before becoming an adult, I fear that you won't.

I find this a really scary thought. It's not that people can't because of their age, but intuitively we know that people just won't be bothered to put in the effort. Especially when they've spent their whole life in a certain frame of mind. What's the incentive to change after so much time? For the vast majority of people there will be none, and that's scary.

Re: The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber – It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good ones don't... just like any field... "Intelligent" people know how much they don't know... "Stupid" or "ignorant" know everything and want you to know it. Doctors, Mechanics, ... nerds... no one group is immune to this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect "The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing…

With warning of anecdote rather than evidence, Doctors are the worst [1] for this! So many of them seem to think they're scientists, when the majority of them are far from it. [1] In the hyperbolic sense; I wouldn't like to suggest a literal truth here

"Just highly trained mechanics." Dr. Dean Edell

I always felt that was unfair to most mechanics, but he trying was proving a point. The mechanics I know can't claim, "Oh, it's an art too?". And--yes I understand the human body is more complex. I'm talking about being dragged in for refills. Dancing around those huge egos. Blah, etc. And watch Trump give them tort reform. I wanted it for years. Now--I think they might abuse the privelege? My beef is not just Docters. It's the AMA. Its their Lobbiests.

It's the money side of the career.

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