Summary of David Dunning’s “We Are All Confident Idiots”

David Dunning, a psychologist and researcher at Cornell, writes “We Are All Confident Idiots,” published in Pacific Standard on October 27th, 2014. This magazine is geared slightly more for younger adult men with a college education, who mostly likely have a job in research and marketing. Dunning’s article targeted science and society, as he shares the research behind metacognition and people’s confidence in their own misbeliefs. This article defines the issue of ignorance in relation to metacognition. He argues that people who are wrong about a belief or claim are almost always confident in their misbelief, specifically more than those who are accurate and sound in their beliefs. He uses examples from studies that were performed on people, such as the high school survey on evolution, the survey on financial knowledge after the 2008 financial crisis, and the general belief that babies and children have that sometimes survive well into adulthood. Dunning begins his article with a relatable topic: “Lie Witness News” from Jimmy Kimmel Live! He shows how people jump onto a false claim quickly with a television feature and then supports his argument with research from his own team at Cornell University. While Dunning seems to argue that people are idiots, he really argues that people are not ignorant, they are misinformed. Dunning sites himself and his own team several times in this article, as well as research conducted by the government, other researchers, and writers. As a psychologist and researcher, Dunning has credibility on this topic, but uses his own research to support the argument too much, as one will always be bias towards themselves.