Analysis Of David Dunning's 'We Are All Confident Idiots'
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Darwin once said that ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. David Dunning, author of “We Are All Confident Idiots,” would certainly agree with that sentiment. In his aforementioned article, Dunning makes the argument that ignorance too often disguises itself as expertise. He observes that in our society people too frequently mistake confidence for true knowledge. In the article, the writer, David Dunning, made proper use of colloquial diction, installed invective language to provoke thoughtfulness, used appeals to authority to support his claims, alluded to popular culture, and created a factual and forthright tone. By doing so, he effectively proved his argument that confidence is often a façade to ignorance. In the article, Dunning employs colloquial diction to unify himself with his readership. Most admirable is his use of the pronouns we and our. On page six, his use of these pronouns is evidently clear. He states that as humans “we are unbridled…show more content… Dunning opens with the description of the events that occur during one of the pranks “which involves asking pedestrians a variety of questions with false premises.” During each interview, the pedestrians are asked questions and seem to instantly fabricate stories to make it appear that they are knowledgeable in the given subject. Dunning uses this to provide a point-of-connection between the reader and the author’s research. Opening with “Lie Witness News” provides the reader with a familiar and widely known illustration of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. This gives the readers some understanding and allows them to relate at some level with the subject. The allusion to Jimmy Kimmel also shows the extent of this specific facet of metacognition. By making this reference to popular culture, it reveals the scope of America’s issue with not understanding the depth of its own