# The superignorant **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885 "2014-11-17T19:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/41 "2014-11-18T23:46:53Z")
I needed a giggle, you funny people you. This thread has been quite helpful. I only WISH we had the superignorant contained to Congress; unfortunately, untrue (as should be rather obvious when you think about how they managed to become a legislative representative, but …). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/42 "2014-11-18T23:50:55Z")
Any hierachary is like a tree full of monkeys. The monkeys on the top branches look down and all they see are smiling faces. The monkeys on the bottom branches look up and all they can see are a bunch of assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/43 "2014-11-18T23:51:50Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I missed that one. Linky? And was a recipe included? > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Yeah, kind of. Here’s a [link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16698177&postcount=625) to the post (user banned and thread closed), where he describes his “experiment”. Yep, that’s him alright. > [@MrDibble](#): > > I’d _like_ to miss the guy who disproved kiddie rape by fucking a toilet paper tube as a _gedankeneksperiment_, but he’s still around, sadly. Ugh. Glad to say I haven’t come across that POS. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/44 "2014-11-19T00:07:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’d _like_ to miss the guy who disproved kiddie rape by fucking a toilet paper tube as a _gedankeneksperiment_, but he’s still around, sadly. Even the bunnies he abused for his experiment are not amused! [Neither one looks too pleased. - Imgur](http://imgur.com/CQUs2yN) 🙂 (Safe for work, very funny,) The antidote: Stephen Fry from QI when confronted by a real picture of cute bunnies: [D’Aaaawwww, the little fluffy bunnies!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msMTt06B92Q) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/45 "2014-11-19T02:31:23Z")
Hey, hey, _we’re_ the monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/46 "2014-11-19T02:58:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This is the point at which some know-it-all will refer to the _Dunning-Kruger effect_, so I will: > > [Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) > > The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias whereby unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than is accurate. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their ineptitude. PSA time: I’d like everyone to take the opportunity to read carefully. The effect is a bias where the person rates themselves much higher than _is accurate_. It does not say the person rates himself higher than his peers. The illusory superiority is his imagined self versus his actual self, not his imagined self versus other people. In the actual study, you had people who ranked last on the test thinking they ranked in the 30th percentile (or so). They didn’t think they scored highly. They just didn’t think they did _that_ badly. Conversely, the high scorers knew they did well. They just underestimated _how_ well, and the top 10% thought they were in the top 20% or so. Just saying…the Dunning Kruger effect is not “dumb people think they’re smart and smart people think they’re dumb.” It’s “No one thinks they’re the extreme.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/47 "2014-11-19T06:37:52Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Because monkeys are funny. And everyone loves monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/48 "2014-11-19T07:21:16Z")
State Legislatures are farm teams for Congress. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/49 "2014-11-19T10:34:36Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > PSA time: I’d like everyone to take the opportunity to read carefully. The effect is a bias where the person rates themselves much higher than _is accurate_. It does not say the person rates himself higher than his peers. The illusory superiority is his imagined self versus his actual self, not his imagined self versus other people. > > In the actual study, you had people who ranked last on the test thinking they ranked in the 30th percentile (or so). They didn’t think they scored highly. They just didn’t think they did _that_ badly. Conversely, the high scorers knew they did well. They just underestimated _how_ well, and the top 10% thought they were in the top 20% or so. > Just saying…the Dunning Kruger effect is not “dumb people think they’re smart and smart people think they’re dumb.” It’s “No one thinks they’re the extreme.” In the actual study, in every domain tested, the bottom quartile thought they ranked above average. (On average.) You’re partially right, but I think a more useful version than “No one thinks they’re the extreme.” is “Many dumb people think they’re above average.” ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885/50 "2014-11-19T17:16:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys. The ones that didn’t evolve were the smart monkeys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superignorant/704885.md?page=2)