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Mind the Gap · Saturday · 7 min

The Effect Nobody Read Properly

You know the Dunning-Kruger effect. "The dumbest people are the most confident." Except that's not what the 1999 study actually found — and the correction most people haven't heard is stranger than the myth itself. Michael Comyn traces the real finding, the statistical critique that's since called the famous graph into question, and — instead of handing you a tidier myth to replace the old one — lands somewhere more honest: we know less about this than either the popular version or its takedown would have you believe. A confession as much as an episode. Keywords/tags: Dunning-Kruger effect, cognitive bias, critical thinking, psychology myths, statistics, epistemic humility, self-assessment

0:00-7:36

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You know the Dunning-Kruger effect. "The dumbest people are the most confident." Except that's not what the 1999 study actually found — and the correction most people haven't heard is stranger than the myth itself.

Michael Comyn traces the real finding, the statistical critique that's since called the famous graph into question, and — instead of handing you a tidier myth to replace the old one — lands somewhere more honest: we know less about this than either the popular version or its takedown would have you believe. A confession as much as an episode.

Keywords/tags: Dunning-Kruger effect, cognitive bias, critical thinking, psychology myths, statistics, epistemic humility, self-assessment

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