Among the Inept, Researchers Discover, Ignorance is Bliss

This article was interesting to me. It helped me understand why sometimes I can be over-confident about certain issues. I am a confident individual. I do rate myself "above average" on charts, but when it comes to having great math skills, I am not afraid to rate myself as average/poor. But I am OK with that. One thing that drives me nuts when I go out at night sometimes is that when people ask me: Are you a good artist?" How am i suppose to answer that? : No? Sometimes? I guess? Many people that I talk to and I tell them that I am in the Fine Art department at Ringling, they automatically think that I am a spectacular drawer or a master sculptor. Well, my drawing skills are not up to par with the illustrators. I am an "ok" drawer" but I do tell people that: "Yes, I am a good artist." I tell people that I am a good artist because why put yourself down. Be proud in what your passion/profession is! If you feel confident in a certain role such as believing that you have great humor, or doing a task well...role with it and own it! Yes, i believe that sometimes ignorance is bliss.

• "Most incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent."
• "students who are usually supremely confident of their abilities--more confident, in fact, than people who do things well."
• "Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it."
• "self-monitoring skills, helps explain the tendency of the humor-impaired to persist in telling jokes that are not funny."
• "English grammar and humor were also the most likely to "grossly overestimate" how well they had performed."
• "People who are NOT incompetent tend to "underestimate their own competence."
• "In contrast, the self-assessments of those who scored badly themselves were unaffected by the experience of grading others; some subjects even further inflated their estimates of their own abilities."
• "In competent individuals were less able to recognize competence in others."
• "Overconfidence is common; studies have found. For example, that the vast majority of people rate themselves as "above average" on a wide array of abilities."
• "In a golf game, when your ball is heading into the woods, you know you're incompetent."
• "Faced with incompetence, social norms prevent most people from blurting out " You stink!"