第2120期:Knowing our limitations

Humans can be poor judges of their own ability. So, you might not be as good, or as bad, as you think you are. Psychologists have found the less expertise you have in something, the more likely you are to overestimate your competence in it. And in a digital era where self-assured social media influencers give you 'life hacks', and face-to-face conversation is more limited, this psychological phenomenon seems important to remember. 

人类对自己的能力判断不佳。所以，你可能不像你想象的那么好，也可能不像你想象的那么坏。心理学家发现，你在某件事上的专业知识越少，你就越有可能高估自己在这方面的能力。在数字时代，自信的社交媒体影响者为你提供“生活窍门”，而面对面的对话更加有限，记住这种心理现象似乎很重要。 

This concept is called the Dunning-Kruger effect, named after the psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger. Back in the 90s, they found a correlation between a person's lack of skills and ability and a lack of awareness of lack of ability. They are ignorant to their own limitations. This plays out in various areas of life, such as in medical diagnosis. For example, Dunning told BBC Radio 4 that, one third of the time, doctors disagree with patients who self-diagnose using internet sources rather than seeing a medical professional. Whether it's judging jokes, logical reasoning, or grammar, the pattern is the same: the less skilled you are, the more over-confident you are. 

这个概念被称为邓宁-克鲁格效应，以心理学家大卫·邓宁和贾斯汀·克鲁格的名字命名。早在90年代，他们就发现一个人缺乏技能和能力与缺乏对能力缺乏的认识之间存在关联。他们对自己的局限性一无所知。这体现在生活的各个领域，例如医疗诊断。例如，邓宁告诉 BBC 广播四台，三分之一的情况下，医生不同意患者使用互联网资源进行自我诊断而不是去看医疗专业人员。无论是判断笑话、逻辑推理还是语法，模式都是一样的：你越不熟练，你就越过度自信。 

On the flip side is intellectual humility. This means having a modest or low view of your importance or abilities. Elizabeth J. Krumrei-Mancuso, Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University, found that a higher willingness to acknowledge cognitive limitations, and the ability to embrace diverse perspectives, is connected with a more accurate perception of intelligence. 

另一方面是知识分子的谦逊。这意味着对自己的重要性或能力持谦虚或低的看法。佩珀代因大学心理学教授伊丽莎白·J·克鲁姆雷-曼库索发现，承认认知局限性的更高意愿以及接受不同观点的能力与对智力的更准确感知有关。 

How can we use this knowledge to help us in everyday life? Tenelle Porter, a psychologist at Rowan University, told the BBC that knowing this "opens us up to being intellectually humble, to admitting everything that we don't yet know". And current studies suggest that those with higher intellectual humility are more open to negotiating, compromising and exploring information. 

我们如何利用这些知识来帮助我们的日常生活？罗文大学心理学家特内尔·波特告诉英国广播公司，了解这一点“让我们在智力上变得谦虚，承认我们还不知道的一切”。目前的研究表明，那些智力谦逊的人更愿意谈判、妥协和探索信息。 

So, embrace the unknown and remember, there's always more to learn. 

因此，拥抱未知并记住，总是有更多东西需要学习。

词汇表

judge 评判者，裁判
expertise 专业知识
overestimate 高估
competence 能力
self-assured 自信的
phenomenon 现象
lack 缺乏
ignorant 无知的
limitation 局限
skilled 有技能的
over-confident 过度自信的，自负的
intellectual humility 智性谦逊，认识并承认自己能力的局限性
modest 谦逊的
willingness 意愿
perspective 观点，看待问题的角度
humble 谦虚的