Originally published in October of 2014, David Dunning’s article “We Are All Confident Idiots” explores the idea of human ignorance and our self-awareness from the point of view of a psychologist. This article is no opinion piece, Dunning’s qualifications and the research done prior to writing this article are explained through a scientific, sociological perspective and his audience is most likely one of educated similarly scientific-minded readers. The original publishing date puts the article into a political context as we can compare the original articles’ 2014 political atmosphere to the updated articles 2017 political relevance including “fake news” and media literacy and their effect on public ignorance and awareness.
Dunning’s article uses Jimmy Kimmel’s “Lie Witness News” to introduce the idea of confidence in ignorance. The segment’s main point is to reveal not only everyday people’s ignorance, but their ability to buy their own bullshit, by quizzing them on made up topics. Dunning focuses on this phenomenon of people giving seemingly informed information about imaginary topics with the confidence of an expert and incorporates his own experimental data with the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Dunning explains that people are capable of convincing themselves of their own intelligence, no matter their actual education. Ignorance is not just the lack of knowledge, it’s the inability to realize you’re even lacking intellect in the first place which makes it so hard to combat. Dunning explores solutions and attempts to fix the general “confident idiocy” of our society, while explaining the complex hindrances that accompany trying to educate the ignorance out of people.
The research that Dunning sites come from many viewpoints and intention. Siting Jimmy Kimmel may not seem scientifically sound, but it perfectly explains a complicated idea in a humorous and simple way that broadens the intended audience. On the other hand, Dunning also uses research conducted by educational institutions like Cornell University and government agencies like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to support his findings. Dunning uses easily understandable research derived from all types of studies, some appealing to the layman while others are simply logical to broaden the size of his intended audience without oversimplifying for consumption.
anna hilbert 