Highly Relevant: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Dunning%E2%80...
I assume I'm below average
21–30 of 113 posts
Re: I assume I'm below average
#22Wasn't there just a thread about the Dunning-Kruger effect recently?
Anyhow, yes; the more you know the more you know that you know little. The more experienced you are the more you know that you lack experience.
But that doesn't mean that you're not knowledgeable or experienced. This kind of worldview is a good basis for approaching anything, but it's not a good way to make decisions.
Re: I assume I'm below average
#23I would often assume people I met were smarter than I was. I was proven wrong time and time again.
Re: I assume I'm below average
#24Sources? It's nice to just throw out percentages but where is the data to back this up?
Re: I assume I'm below average
#25Especially for driving, I think most people are above average. This is because the distribution of driving ability is negatively skewed, meaning the tail on the left is longer than the tail on the right. If you were to put a number on driving ability, most people would get something like a seven (out of a maximum of 10). In my opinion, there would be a very small amount of two's and fives. There would also be a small…
I think you're right which is funny because many people (way more than half as this article noted) would say they are above average and say that only half of drivers can be above average
Only 50% of students can be above average (median) but 80% may have above average grades (mode)
People tend to confuse the two concepts
Re: I assume I'm below average
#26Highly Relevant: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Dunning%E2%80...
I am quite happy with my illusory inferiority. Deal with discontent by trying to outrun it, and you'll never run out of things to do.
Re: I assume I'm below average
#27This guy always comes up with insightful yet humble posts.
Re: I assume I'm below average
#28My high school psychology teacher taught us about illusory superiority by another name (which is discussed on the Wikipedia page): the Lake Woebegone Effect.
This refers, of course, to Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegone, where "all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."
Although that was years ago, I think about the effect often. Part of the reason it had such a profound effect on me, I think, is because the name is just so awesome.
Re: I assume I'm below average
#29I think this way, too. I assume I'm a bad programmer, businessman, communicator, etc. It has always served me well. It keeps me asking questions and always striving to improve. Even in the unlikely event that I ever knew what I was talking about, what would it have mattered? It's rule of the Price is Right: you automatically disqualify yourself by going over.
Re: I assume I'm below average
#30On the other hand, lack of optimism considered a sign of poor mental health, seemingly regardless of the truth. http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=5...
Maybe they are optimistic because they know they are healthier.