[TriLUG] hiring linux admins - Dunning–Kruger effect

[Aaron Joyner via TriLUG]

TL;DR: Dunning Kruger actually cuts both ways.  I believe Steve wisely
suggests that Kolanthia may be knowledgeable enough to be subject to the
under-confidence problem highlighted by Dunning Kruger, more commonly
described as "impostor syndrome".

Dunning Kruger in a nutshell:

   1. As (or before) you first learn a particular problem space, you
   underestimate the size or complexity of that problem space and tend to
   over-estimate your own knowledge.
   2. As you learn more, you begin to understand how large or complex the
   problem space is, and encounter a few people who know more than you do
   (perhaps a lot more).  This causes you to underestimate your own knowledge,
   and results in being under confident.
   3. Only true experts in a given field, who actually understand all of
   the problem space, have an accurate match between their actual knowledge,
   and their confidence about that knowledge.

This is typically* demonstrated by a curve (a search for Dunning Kruger
will easily turn it up), with a high and sharp initial peak, followed by a
broad semi-circle.  The Y axis represents confidence, the X axis represents
experience or knowledge.  Notably, even at the far right of the knowledge
axis, confidence never returns to the same height as the original peak of
inexperience.

While we're talking psychology, my advice would be to focus more on Angela
Duckworth's work on what she calls Grit.  What really matters is not
talent, but passion and perseverance.  Stick with it, and you'll go far.

Good luck in all your endeavors, Kolanthia.
Aaron S. Joyner

* - It's worth noting that this graph isn't actually the way the original
paper represented the findings, but I believe it is a good mental model to
represent the findings.  To form your own opinion, you can read a cache of
the original paper here:
http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/weeks//journal/kruger-jpsp99.pdf

On Fri, Oct 12, 2018 at 2:56 PM Alan Porter via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org>
wrote:

>
> Not to detract from the advice given earlier...
>
>
> > By the way, according to
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect , it's
> > entirely possible that she's actually quite skilled but, like many
> > skilled people, underestimates her qualifications.
>
> Actually, the Dunning Kruger effect says quite the opposite... it
> basically
> says that you're the last person to notice that you really don't have
> the
> talent or ability that you think you have.  :-)
>
>      In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a
>      cognitive bias in which people of low ability have illusory
>      superiority and mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as
>      greater than it is.
>
> A perfect example of this someone who demonstrates this effect is the
> boss,
> Michael Scott, from "The Office".  Other examples often cited include
> the
> occasional obviously-bad contestants on talent shows like "America's
> Got
> Talent" or "American Idol".
>
>
>
> I think all of these cognitive biases are fascinating (but I have a
> hard
> time remembering them).  If you'd like to hear a good discussion of
> many
> more like this, check out the You Are Not So Smart podcast.
>
> https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast/
>
> I think the one that's more suitable to the earlier discussion might be
> the
> Impostor Syndrome.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome
>
>
>
> Then again, maybe I am demonstrating the Dunning-Kruger effect right
> now,
> and I'm the only one on this list that does not recognize that I am
> full
> of crap.  Hrm... things really make a lot more sense if I consider
> that.
>
>
>
> Alan
>
>
>
> --
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