# Is There a Term for this Psychological Tendency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093 "2015-08-27T19:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/1 "2015-08-27T19:44:18Z")
Is there a term for the tendency of people who are experts in one area to incorrectly assume they have a higher level of expertise than they actually do in other areas as well? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/2 "2015-08-27T19:49:35Z")
Arrogant know-it-all? Okay, it’s probably not an official psychological term but it’s what we call it. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/3 "2015-08-27T19:52:12Z")
I don’t think so. Arrogant know-it-alls are for the most part motivated by arrogance (and may not know anything about any fields altogether). What I’m talking about are people who are genuinely knowledgable in the areas that interest them and/or they work with, and are frequently “the smartest person in the room” in their areas of expertise, and thus have a tendency to transfer this attitude even in areas in which they are not experts. They may or may not be arrogant about it, but they automatically assume it. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/4 "2015-08-27T19:52:36Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Is there a term for the tendency of people who are experts in one area to incorrectly assume they have a higher level of expertise than they actually do in other areas as well? In logic, it’s the fallacy of [Appeal to False Authority](https://mytutor.sfasu.edu:8080/owl/rhetoric/5#falseauthority). Which is a particularly egregious variant of the fallacious [Appeal to Authority](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority). Of course, both terms speak to believing an authority, as opposed to the purported authority’s false self-appointment. The closest I can come up with is [Illusory Superiority](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority), but that’s more general (a manifestly ignorant moron can still suffer from the delusion of superiority). ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/5 "2015-08-27T19:54:30Z")
I don’t know what you call it, but I know you haven’t truly experienced it until you’ve worked for doctors. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/6 "2015-08-27T19:54:55Z")
I’ve heard emeritus syndrome, but I think there’s another phrase, too. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/7 "2015-08-27T20:06:53Z")
Rational wiki has a listing called Engineers and Woo, calling something similar the Salem Hypothesis. Ah. [Ultracrepidarianism](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ultracrepidarian). > [@](#): > > Pliny (the elder) records the Greek artist Apelles’ willingness to accept a cobbler’s criticism of his rendering of a sandal, but rejection of other artistic advice, saying, “sutor, ne ultra crepidam,” or, “shoemaker, not above the sandal.” Also, [Nobel Disease](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Nobel_disease). I think this is closer to being a common term. I’d never heard of ultracrepidarianism. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/8 "2015-08-28T02:37:13Z")
SDMB Charter Member What? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/9 "2015-08-28T15:30:52Z")
Not a better phrase, just the [xkcd](http://xkcd.com/1570/). ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/10 "2015-08-28T15:57:38Z")
Narcissistic Peronality Disorder? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/11 "2015-08-28T16:43:04Z")
Sounds related to the [Dunning-Kruger effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) which is more general. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/12 "2015-08-28T16:44:53Z")
It is a type of [Anosognosia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anosognosia). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/13 "2015-08-28T20:36:16Z")
Perceived Hyperintelligence Disorder (AKA PHD). ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/14 "2015-08-28T21:00:18Z")
What I find funny is that one of our most common sayings is an example of what the OP is asking about: “If we can put a man on the moon, then surely we can also…” ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/15 "2015-08-28T21:47:29Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > “If we can put a man on the moon, then surely we can also…” …make a decent movie out of the Fantastic Four! …brew a lower-calorie beer that doesn’t taste like seltzer water and broccoli farts! …convince otherwise intelligent people that we did in fact put a man on the moon! …have balls and strikes in baseball called by a computer in near-real time! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/16 "2015-08-28T21:54:41Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Is there a term for the tendency of people who are experts in one area to incorrectly assume they have a higher level of expertise than they actually do in other areas as well? The modern term is “bloggers”. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/17 "2015-08-29T18:22:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Pliny (the elder) records the Greek artist Apelles’ willingness to accept a cobbler’s criticism of his rendering of a sandal, but rejection of other artistic advice, saying, “sutor, ne ultra crepidam,” or, “shoemaker, not above the sandal.” Why would a Greek artist be speaking Latin? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/18 "2015-08-29T22:33:23Z")
I have a Ph.D. and one thing I know about is that I don’t know a damn thing. I may be unusual, but obtaining the doctorate made me very good at recognizing that I am ignorant of SOOooooo many things. There are a couple of things I know something about, but there’s a lot where I am totally clueless Some Ph.D. types were always the smartest ones in their class…they are arrogant assholes. OThers, like me, recognize our limitations But, I’ve had a couple of beers, so I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/19 "2015-08-29T22:46:20Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Why would a Greek artist be speaking Latin? The narrator (Pliny the Elder) was Roman and so writing in his own language. Presumably, if the story is not completely apocryphal, he translated from the original Greek into Latin for the sake of his audience (other Romans). [your daily does of pedantic answers courtesy of me.] ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093/20 "2015-08-30T01:55:27Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I have a Ph.D. and one thing I know about is that I don’t know a damn thing. I may be unusual, but obtaining the doctorate made me very good at recognizing that I am ignorant of SOOooooo many things. There are a couple of things I know something about, but there’s a lot where I am totally clueless > Some Ph.D. types were always the smartest ones in their class…they are arrogant assholes. OThers, like me, recognize our limitations > > But, I’ve had a couple of beers, so I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. The smartest people are generally those who feel least comfortable with their level of knowledge. The more you analyze things, the more you realize there are things you’re not taking into account. Those comfortable with their knowledge level generally aren’t trying hard enough to stump themselves. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-term-for-this-psychological-tendency/729093.md?page=2)