# Dunning-Kruger Overdrive **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102 "2012-07-13T13:09:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/1 "2012-07-13T13:09:10Z")
Is it just me or has the SDMB been visited lately by an influx of people who not merely ignorant or deluded or trolls (which is par for the course and from various viewpoints could describe many of us to some degree) but who actively espouse arguments that are so fundamentally flawed that the people espousing them don’t seem to understand them properly? Let me be clear: I’m not talking about political or religious disagreements, contentious issues with evidence on either side, opinion pieces, calculated misinformation campaigns in support of an agenda, or yer basic trolling. No, I’m talking about those folks who charge in, declare that they are the owners of the real and only scientific truth, demand evidence for the opposing position which they then either ignore entirely or nitpick semantic points whilst ignoring the rest, and then declare victory. I’m talking about arguments that would fall over in a stiff breeze. I’m talking folks like [this guy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=656839), like [this guy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658167), or a couple (but not all) of [these guys](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=653465). I’m talking about people who exemplify the [Dunning-Kruger effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) to a T. I know we always get an influx of summer vacation interns of idiocy around this time of year but I don’t recall this particular approach being so prevalent. Can’t we spray for these people or set out traps or something? I’m getting a little tired of the proliferation of bulletproof ignorance. And, oh look, there’s a new guy with a 9/11 conspiracy theory… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/2 "2012-07-13T13:32:50Z")
Put out glue traps for them then we can cackle at their struggles to free themselves. _Inspired by the mouse murdering thread_ And yes, there does seem to be an unnaturally large proliferation of these morons. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/3 "2012-07-13T13:43:10Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > And yes, there does seem to be an unnaturally large proliferation of these morons. Maybe there’s something about SDMB that attracts them? Like moths to a flame? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/4 "2012-07-13T13:45:55Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Maybe there’s something about SDMB that attracts them? Like moths to a flame? Well I suppose free memberships are like breadcrumbs to a troll. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/5 "2012-07-13T13:47:47Z")
It’s getting fucking _sad_… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/6 "2012-07-13T13:56:15Z")
I find them mildly entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/7 "2012-07-13T13:58:27Z")
Comes in waves and we just happen to be experiencing another wave. I suspect it’s that ‘fighting ignorance’ thing. They think they’re on to some special truth and they believe we’ll either acknowledge it or they can share it with us. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/8 "2012-07-13T13:58:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Is it just me or has the SDMB been visited lately by an influx of people who not merely ignorant or deluded or trolls The Death Pool was featured on some web talk show thing. It always brings in the riff-raff. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/9 "2012-07-13T14:07:31Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Comes in waves and we just happen to be experiencing another wave. Remember when coming in waves used to be _fun_? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/10 "2012-07-13T14:07:56Z")
There’s enough Troll food here to feed an army. People can’t resist feeding them, and the trolls can’t resist lining up at the trough. I blame the feeders as much, if not more, than the fed. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/11 "2012-07-13T14:16:22Z")
I think it is the economy. Every time it takes a dip, states are forced to let more inmates out of the asylum. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/12 "2012-07-13T14:27:15Z")
😕 How can we ever hope to break the lightspeed barrier without the Dunning-Kruger Overdrive?! Continue the research, I say! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/13 "2012-07-13T14:28:49Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And, oh look, there’s a new guy with a 9/11 conspiracy theory… [As usual,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658397) “theory” is much too strong a word. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/14 "2012-07-13T14:41:06Z")
So, anyone else think Kennedy wasn’t a US citizen when he was appointed president? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/15 "2012-07-13T14:44:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 😕 How can we ever hope to break the lightspeed barrier without the Dunning-Kruger Overdrive?! Continue the research, I say! Stupidity, the only thing that travels faster than light. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [As usual,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658397) “theory” is much too strong a word. Okay, there’s a new guy with a link to a video, an inadequate description of its contents and an inability to understand basic concepts of physics, logic or grammar. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/16 "2012-07-13T14:44:17Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > So, anyone else think Kennedy wasn’t a US citizen when he was appointed president? He was a Japanese national. Look at all the tie he spent in the South Pacific! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/17 "2012-07-13T14:48:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 😕 How can we ever hope to break the lightspeed barrier without the Dunning-Kruger Overdrive?! Continue the research, I say! > [@Gyrate](#): > > Stupidity, the only thing that travels faster than light. It’s the same principle as Wile E. Coyote chasing the Roadrunner off a cliff and not falling until he looks down. If sufficient self-oblivious stupidity can be harnessed, the speed of light can be exceeded by sheer obliviousness to the fact that doing so is impossible! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/18 "2012-07-13T14:53:46Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > If sufficient self-oblivious stupidity can be harnessed, the speed of light can be exceeded by sheer obliviousness to the fact that doing so is impossible! I for one immediately propose that we budget $47 trillion dollars for research into the SSOS Drive. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/19 "2012-07-13T14:57:18Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 😕 How can we ever hope to break the lightspeed barrier without the Dunning-Kruger Overdrive?! Or ever finish takin’ care of business? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102/20 "2012-07-13T15:06:02Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I for one immediately propose that we budget $47 trillion dollars for research into the SSOS Drive. And with SSOS Economics, we’ll actually be able to afford it! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunning-kruger-overdrive/628102.md?page=2)