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Inform Idiots David Dunning Analysis

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“Fake it ’til you make it” has become a common catchphrase, and could not hold more true to the people of today. People today, arguably more than ever, want to know all the latest things, from books to bands. When they feel as though they are the only person who has not been involved in the latest lingo, it sometimes causes them to pretend and display to others information that on the surface may seem right, however; they really are just saying it to slip by. David Dunning explores this conundrum and forms an argument on why people do things like this is his article, “We Are All Confident Idiots”. Dunning is then able to intelligibly show that humans like to lie to their own self about the information on a subject, and in doing this they become …show more content…

He describes a study in which high school students are quizzed on their knowledge of evolution both before taking an introductory biology class, and then after being instructed on the material. The results were astonishing: the students became conceited in their comprehension of material. He describes this as more “misconceiving” the information rather than people purposely speaking with a bigger mouth than they can handle (whats the phrase or word you use when people have a bigger mouth than they can handle Overconfidence? Use thesaurus). This clearly and concisely supports his main argument because outline he outlines the feelings that people felt in order to make them overly sanguine about what they hold to be true on that topic. A second compelling example that Dunning procures is when he recounts of an experiment that exhibited driver education students tend to become more of a hazard after being taught on how to handle emergency maneuvers—such as driving on slick roads or avoiding debris. The way in which a human brain works is that, similar to learning the material of evolution, people are left with “lasting impressions that they’re permanent experts on the subject” on things such as what to do when hitting a patch of deathly black ice. The very opposite holds true: with such little actual driving experience, they really can’t make the best, most educated decisions. This exhibits a tone in which Dunning is trying to get his readers to realize that people need to accept the fact the can’t become know-it-alls (competent/proficient/use thesaurus) on all the materials of this world. For the benefit of all, including oneself, it is okay to say, “I do not know” and accept the fact that one may need to study more in-depth on the subject matter. By using these examples and persuasive language, he is able to draw

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