It’s amazing what you learn while traipsing around the Internet - today, I learned about the Dunning-Kruger Effect:

The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge (or skill) tend to think that they know more (or have more skill) than they do, while others who have much more knowledge tend to think that they know less.

I actually have a lot of experience with both ends of this. For example, I am firmly convinced that, if push came to shove, I would be fairly decent in a fight, despite the fact that I am out of shape and haven’t won a fight in, oh, ever. But, in part because it’s been a while since I’ve been in a fight, I have a certain unjustified confidence that I could at least last more than the 0.8 seconds it would take for someone to square their fist against my jaw. Conversely, the more I learn about my career, the less I feel I actually know - I know enough about System Administration-type work to have a much better understanding of what I don’t know than I did when I first started, so I can more clearly see my ignorance on many aspects of that field.

So, where am I going with this? Glad you asked…

Actually, no I’m not.  I have no idea where I’m going with this.  I can normally find millions of stories where this very principle applies.  Not today, though.  Today seems to be a Dunning-Kruger Free Zone, and for that, I am deeply offended and mortified.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a bunker to crawl into.  I hear they’re coming for Murphy’s Law next.

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