Analysing your IQ
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AKA: "Mount Stupid"
A cognitive bias whereby people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. Conversely, experts tend to underestimate their competence.
Your brain has bugs. Dunning-Kruger Effect is one of them. Understanding this error pattern helps you catch it before it costs you.
Amateurs think they are experts because they don't know what they don't know. Experts assume everyone knows what they know.
High-stakes domains (medicine, law, finance) have developed entire systems to counteract Dunning-Kruger Effect. If professionals need safeguards, so do you.
This error is driven by Metacognitive deficit. You need skill to recognize the lack of skill..
The mechanism is rooted in metacognitive deficit. you need skill to recognize the lack of skill.. Your brain isn't broken—it's running outdated software in a new environment.
In investing: Dunning-Kruger Effect leads to holding losing positions too long or selling winners too early.
In relationships: This bias causes people to interpret ambiguous signals in ways that confirm existing beliefs about partners.
In work: Dunning-Kruger Effect makes it harder to update strategies when market conditions change.
In health: People ignore symptoms that contradict their self-image as "healthy" or "young."
Dunning-Kruger Effect has been studied extensively since the cognitive revolution. Research consistently shows that even warned subjects fall for it—awareness alone doesn't provide immunity.
Feedback. You cannot judge your own competence in a vacuum. Test yourself against objective standards.
Seek disconfirming evidence: Actively look for data that challenges your current belief.
Use decision journals: Write down predictions before outcomes are known, then review accuracy.
Consult diverse perspectives: People with different backgrounds spot different biases.
Implement decision rules: Pre-commit to criteria before emotionally charged situations arise.
Time-box decisions: Revisit important conclusions after a cooling-off period.
Some brains are more susceptible to this than others. Test your Intelligence to find out.
A cognitive bias whereby people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. Conversely, experts tend to underestimate their competence.
The alternate name "Mount Stupid" captures the intuitive essence of the bias. Dunning-Kruger Effect is the formal psychological term, while "Mount Stupid" describes what it feels like in practice.
Feedback. You cannot judge your own competence in a vacuum. Test yourself against objective standards.
The underlying mechanism is metacognitive deficit. you need skill to recognize the lack of skill.. Human brains evolved heuristics for speed and survival, not accuracy in modern contexts.
Yes. Intelligence doesn't provide immunity—sometimes it makes the bias worse because smart people are better at rationalizing. Awareness and structured decision processes are more protective than raw IQ.
Amateurs think they are experts because they don't know what they don't know. Experts assume everyone knows what they know.