Did you ever think that the people who are the most sure of themselves are also those you would least trust to be right? And that those you are most inclined to believe seem to have the least confidence in themselves?
As technical writers, you need to understand the Dunning-Kruger effect. Alexandru Micu describes it well:
A fuller definition of the Dunning-Kruger effect would be that it represents a bias in estimating our own ability that stems from our limited perspective. When we have a poor or nonexistent grasp on a topic, we literally know too little of it to understand how little we know. Those who do possess the knowledge or skills, however, have a much better idea of where they sit. But they also think that if a task is clear and simple to them, it must be so for everyone else as well.
It’s difficult to make something clear to you as clear to other people.
As technical writers, we have to face that difficulty directly. We have to follow our own directions as if we know nothing and as if we believed something else. This, of course, is extremely hard to do.
Think about the people who refuse to accept the validity of vaccines. No matter how much proof is presented to them, they push it aside.
There is a lot of ignorant thinking going on today regarding the novel coronavirus and the covid-19 disease associated. As a result, as you work on the Technical Writing Coronavirus Challenge, you are going to have to think about the Dunning-Kurger effect a great deal.
Read Micu’s article and maybe look up some more on this effect!
