IS IGNORANCE BLISS? HOW INCOMPETENT PEOPLE STAY THAT WAY

Wanna hear something scary? Incompetent people don't know how incompetent they are. According to the New York Times, Cornell University psychology professor David Dunning has found in studies that incompetent people are "usually supremely confident in their abilities-- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well." Which is why respected heart surgeons, world-famous violinists, and successful CEO's, instead of being comforted by their achievements, do feel a bit of trepidation when embarking on a task-- trepidation somehow improves their performance.

Athletes know when they're incompetent. So do stand-up comics. But what about the unfunny guy who persists in telling jokes? What about ordinary people with desk jobs? Most of us get too little useful feedback on how to improve our personal and professional performance. Worse, in the name of "support" we often get mindless praise that we don't deserve. Think of the last time you smiled politely at the Unfunny Guy's lame joke. Think of the last time you tepidly said "Great!" when Unstylish Girl showed up with a ridiculous accessory.

The skills required to do things well are often the same skills necessary to recognize competence in the first place, concludes Dunning. Which kinda means that, while not wallowing in a mire of self-doubt, we should all be in a constant state of what might be called "positive self-underestimation." Such a state catalyzes clue-seeking, that most necessary aspect of human evolution-- which these days expresses itself in job evaluations, religious observation, and, of course, TV makeover shows.