Daily Cascade

Over-estimating?

Prompt:
Do you know people who are terrible at doing just about anything, but they are convinced they're extremely talented? What are they like and would you tell them the truth about themselves?

-----

I haven't met any such person who was terrible at everything, but then, I haven't met all the people in the world. If I did and if there was such a person, I wouldn't say anything to them. I mean, who ever gave me the job of fixing all the problems in the world, let alone those I am not capable to understand or mend!

Truth is, I believe everyone is good at something, while some can be good at most things. Then, if some people haven't seen, experienced, or been taught a certain thing, surely they'd be bad at it at first try.

Then, I know a few who think they are good at something, say singing, while what they do is only a mockery of it. In psychology. the explanation for this is called he Dunning-Kruger effect. This is what they call a cognitive bias. It means someone with a low ability overestimates his performance with confidence, In other words, the less someone knows, the less they're able to see how much they don’t know.

There’s also an emotional layer: ego protection. Believing one is talented can serve as a psychological shield against feelings of inadequacy. Sometimes, it's easier for a person to believe they're misunderstood or underappreciated than to confront the idea that there's something that needs to be fixed in their work or behavior.

Social dynamics play a role, too. Let's take the off-key singing, again, for example. If someone sings off-key but a few friends tell them they have a "unique voice," they might latch onto that compliment while disregarding more honest feedback.

Also, when we might avoid telling someone they made a mistake or two with something, in order to protect their feelings, we unintentionally reinforce their false beliefs about talent. This brings to mind some of the reviews given here in Writing.com. About which, I'm wondering, if we didn't have the star-rating system, would the reviews be more honest?

After all, we are told to "believe in ourselves" and "follow our dreams," which can blur the line between self-belief and realistic self-assessment. This can lead to situations where enthusiasm is mistaken for perfection.

I so wish we could overcome our cognitive blind spots, emotional coping, and refusing suggestions and reinforcements from one another. If we did, it might help make our world a better place.