Roberto Zamora, Jr., Ph.D.Have you ever heard someone explain a complicated issue with complete confidence after learning about it fifteen minutes earlier?
Meanwhile, the person with years of experience keeps saying, “It depends.”
That difference is not accidental.
The Dunning-Kruger Effect describes how:
The less we know, the harder it can be to recognize how much we do not know.
Early knowledge can create confidence because we have not yet discovered the exceptions, complications, and missing pieces.
Greater expertise often sounds less certain because experienced people understand how much context matters.
Confidence can be persuasive, but it is not proof of competence.
Sometimes the person saying “I need to look into that” knows far more than the person who already has the answer.
