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Jon sent me a link a couple days ago to this article, which examines the phenomenon of people overestimating their abilities, and the fact that the people who tend to overestimate their abilities the most are the people who are the least skilled in said ability. Basically, people who suck at certain things often think they are much better than they are, and people who are good at them are better than they give themselves credit for.

And, of course, this is something that can be thrown in the “No shit, Sherlock” file, as I think we’ve all seen this manifested before. In a group setting, when a volunteer is needed to get something done, the first person to raise their hand is often the last person you’d really want working on it (if it’s important).

I know that I probably tend to underestimate my abilities in many areas, although it’s difficult to determine whether I am truly underestimating myself or other people overestimate me. Probably a little bit of both.

But this theory lends itself to other areas as well. For instance, I have always wondered if ugly people know that they’re ugly (please spare me the “in the eye of the beholder” nonsense, as there is a difference between not finding someone attractive and someone being ugly). Do stupid people know they’re stupid? It seems that annoying people generally don’t know that they’re annoying (or one would hope that they would KNOCK IT OFF).

I don’t really have a great conclusion for this. If nothing else, it’s something to think about you’re telling someone how great or horrible you are in some capacity.