The internet gives us a sense of false omniscience. “Google it” is the rallying cry. Unfortunately, however, we don’t know as much as we think we do.
For one, Google feeds you specific data, and you can pay to have your page displayed higher up. On the other hand, the news only shows what sells ads, and there is a slant even then. Check out AllSides.com.
Facebook shows you what it thinks you’d like to see. Have you watched Social Dilemma?
It’s eye-opening.
Consider this: there are things my kids won’t know about unless I tell them. That’s why it’s said that freedom is one generation away from dying.
Look at history itself. Markers are being torn down, ignored, rewritten. You can’t learn from it if you don’t know about it. That’s why I favor writing being preserved on paper so people can’t edit it later to reflect something different to hide what you thought then.
Another thing about history—tell all of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly, with all the facts and human emotions and motivations behind it.
I’ve often written about the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Psychology Today says, “The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area.”
Most people online fall under “I know everything” and say it with enough confidence to be believable.
I usually find when I’m at my most confident, I tend to be wrong.
An example, HGTV has a lot of renovation and house flipping shows. I watch Good Bones and HomeTown, where their whole goal is to pretty up the decrepit and old homes in their respective cities.
I look around at our new town of Lonoke, and it has a few run-down homes. I think we could do that.
Then I watched Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa, and they talked about things I hadn’t considered. The things I didn’t know that I didn’t know.
And I’m the guy that usually gets the wrong size parts when I need them for the house or car. One time I put the risers for the porch steps on wrong, making for a steep climb.
With information, there’s what you know and then there’s what you think you know. That’s followed by what you know that you do not know. Then, finally, the things you didn’t know that you didn’t know.
There are questions that we don’t even know we should be asking.
I think we all have an unhealthy dose of Dunning-Kruger. How to combat it?
Back to Psychology Today:
“To avoid falling prey to the Dunning-Kruger effect, people can honestly and routinely question their knowledge base and the conclusions they draw, rather than blindly accepting them. As David Dunning proposes, people can be their own devil’s advocates, by challenging themselves to probe how they might possibly be wrong.
Individuals could also escape the trap by seeking others whose expertise can help cover their own blind spots, such as turning to a colleague or friend for advice or constructive criticism. Continuing to study a specific subject will also bring one’s capacity into a clearer focus.
Do I have the Dunning-Kruger effect?
Ask yourself: Have you ever heard similar criticisms from different people in your life and ignored or discounted them? You may have experienced the Dunning-Kruger effect. Take a look at those areas in your life where you feel 100 percent confident. Acknowledge the possibility that you might not always be right, and you might need to acquire knowledge or practice more.
How do you fix the Dunning-Kruger effect?
Question what you know and pay attention to those who have different viewpoints. Seek feedback from people you can trust who you know are highly skilled in your area of interest. Be open to constructive criticism and resist the impulse to become defensive. Don’t pretend to know something you don’t. Make it a priority to continue learning and growing.”
What we feel doesn’t equate to what we think. So if we’re emotional, then we’re not as logical. And logic only works with correct information.
We’re in quite a pickle, aren’t we? But, of course, any fool can write something online. You’re reading my stuff, aren’t you?
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