Why do people strongly opine about topics they know nothing about?

[PWMDMD]

One thing I've never understood is why people are so comfortable having strong opinions about subjects they've never seriously studied and in many cases even thought about.

I don't mean disagreement. Disagreement is healthy. I'm talking about confidently declaring that an entire field is wrong while having little or no familiarity with the evidence, research, or arguments behind it.

If I know nothing about structural engineering, I don't assume I can walk into a room and explain why bridges are built incorrectly. If I know nothing about medicine, I don't assume decades of research can be dismissed based on a few minutes of thought. Yet when it comes to science, economics, history, or other complex topics, many people seem perfectly comfortable doing exactly that.

What causes this? Is it overconfidence? The internet rewarding certainty over curiosity? A distrust of expertise? Or have we simply lost the habit of saying, "I don't know enough about this to have an opinion yet"?

Who cares about your "feelings" about a topic, I certainly don't, and neither does the evidence. It seems to me that intellectual humility should be the starting point for learning, not the exception.

 

[Inked]

There is a scientific name given to such people. It’s called the “Cliff Clavin Law of Ignorance”.

 

[Geekhead]

One thing I've never understood is why people are so comfortable having strong opinions about subjects they've never seriously studied and in many cases even thought about.

I don't mean disagreement. Disagreement is healthy. I'm talking about confidently declaring that an entire field is wrong while having little or no familiarity with the evidence, research, or arguments behind it.

If I know nothing about structural engineering, I don't assume I can walk into a room and explain why bridges are built incorrectly. If I know nothing about medicine, I don't assume decades of research can be dismissed based on a few minutes of thought. Yet when it comes to science, economics, history, or other complex topics, many people seem perfectly comfortable doing exactly that.

What causes this? Is it overconfidence? The internet rewarding certainty over curiosity? A distrust of expertise? Or have we simply lost the habit of saying, "I don't know enough about this to have an opinion yet"?

Who cares about your "feelings" about a topic, I certainly don't, and neither does the evidence. It seems to me that intellectual humility should be the starting point for learning, not the exception.

You are talking about the Dunning-Kruger effect where people greatly overestimate their own skills and objective thinking.

 

[supton]

IMO Dunning-Kruger. And I mean that from my own perspective of having been "convinced" while never having actually researched. The more exposure I get to new ideas or even just well versed people "mansplaining" the more I realize how little I actually know. Yet I had been quite convinced...

Thing is, being blissfully unaware I was quite ready to roam out into life and make of what it I will. Today I'm reluctant to do more than change the oil in my car, and sometimes not even that. That's an aside and not relevant to the discussion, but to me, it's been a side effect of learning what I don't know.

 

[PWMDMD]

You are talking about the Dunning-Kruger effect where people greatly overestimate their own skills and objective thinking.

Absolutely. I'm familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect and have brought it up in discussions here before. In this case, I was more interested in sparking a conversation about why it happens and how it influences the way we think.

One thing I've noticed is that gaining expertise in a few fields has actually made me much more cautious about forming strong opinions outside those areas. The deeper I've gone into subjects I know well, the more I've realized how much complexity exists beneath the surface and how easy it is to underestimate what you don't know.

As a result, when I'm outside my area of expertise, I try to listen more than I speak and remain open to being wrong. What surprises me is that the people who seem most certain are often the ones with the least familiarity with the topic. That doesn't mean experts are always right, but it does make intellectual humility seem like an underrated virtue.

 

[dadto2]

The funny thing about knowledge is that the more you learn, you realize there is even more to learn.

 

[Pablo]

I call it....................parroting.

 

[JeffKeryk]

"I'm smart enough to know that I'm dumb." Prof. Richard Feynman

"The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know." Prof. Albert Einstein

"Whenever I say those 2 words, "I know", that only means my mind is only open to what I wanna hear." Jeff Keryk

 

[thastinger]

One thing I've never understood is why people are so comfortable having strong opinions about subjects they've never seriously studied and in many cases even thought about.

I don't mean disagreement. Disagreement is healthy. I'm talking about confidently declaring that an entire field is wrong while having little or no familiarity with the evidence, research, or arguments behind it.

If I know nothing about structural engineering, I don't assume I can walk into a room and explain why bridges are built incorrectly. If I know nothing about medicine, I don't assume decades of research can be dismissed based on a few minutes of thought. Yet when it comes to science, economics, history, or other complex topics, many people seem perfectly comfortable doing exactly that.

What causes this? Is it overconfidence? The internet rewarding certainty over curiosity? A distrust of expertise? Or have we simply lost the habit of saying, "I don't know enough about this to have an opinion yet"?

Who cares about your "feelings" about a topic, I certainly don't, and neither does the evidence. It seems to me that intellectual humility should be the starting point for learning, not the exception.

You mean like how Dr. Zahi Hawass swears the Egyptians built the pyramids?

 

[PWMDMD]

You mean like how Dr. Zahi Hawass swears the Egyptians built the pyramids?

I can't say...I know little about the Egyptian pyramids.

 

[mrvmax]

I think the internet age made it more prevalent. People do stuff behind the keyboard that they would never do in person. Anonymity provides boldness.

 

[crashz]

I don't know. But if I were to guess, I would say its a perfect combination of ignorance, confidence, ease of communication and anonymity. Like a Type A personality with limited actual experience or knowledge combined with the vast access to social media.

But I realize by putting this opinion out there, I'm doing the same thing. I'm no human behavior expert by any means. Just a person who observes things. But I try to pre-qualify my statements to show that this is my opinion, an observation, guess or some such thing.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I don't know. But if I were to guess, I would say its a perfect combination of ignorance, confidence, ease of communication and anonymity. Like a Type A personality with limited actual experience or knowledge combined with the vast access to social media.

But I realize by putting this opinion out there, I'm doing the same thing. I'm no human behavior expert by any means. Just a person who observes things. But I try to pre-qualify my statements to show that this is my opinion, an observation, guess or some such thing.

You forgot reluctance to change and fear. Which are related. But let's not talk about relatives, right?

 

[JoelB]

"I'm smart enough to know that I'm dumb." Prof. Richard Feynman

"The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know." Prof. Albert Einstein

"Whenever I say those 2 words, "I know", that only means my mind is only open to what I wanna hear." Jeff Keryk

I think these quotes say it all. It's directly linked to intellectual capacity. The less intelligent someone is the harder it is to understand the scope of any particular topic.

 

[PWMDMD]

I don't know. But if I were to guess, I would say its a perfect combination of ignorance, confidence, ease of communication and anonymity. Like a Type A personality with limited actual experience or knowledge combined with the vast access to social media.

But I realize by putting this opinion out there, I'm doing the same thing. I'm no human behavior expert by any means. Just a person who observes things. But I try to pre-qualify my statements to show that this is my opinion, an observation, guess or some such thing.

I think this is a good point, especially your last paragraph.

It raises an interesting question - what subjects actually require expertise before someone should speak confidently about them, and what subjects fall within the realm of everyday observation where most people's opinions are reasonably valid?

For example, I don't need a PhD in psychology to observe that people often defend their tribe, political party, or favorite public figure despite contradictory evidence. That's something most people can witness in daily life. On the other hand, if I'm making claims about quantum mechanics, climate modeling, economics, or medicine, the amount of background knowledge required goes up dramatically.

I also appreciate that you're qualifying your statements as observations rather than presenting them as established fact. To me, that's the real issue. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. The problem starts when people mistake an uninformed opinion for expertise and express it with absolute certainty.

Ironically, the more I've learned in the fields where I do have expertise, the more cautious I've become about subjects I don't know well. Understanding how much there is to learn tends to create humility rather than confidence in my experience.

 

[GON]

Agree with the theory of your posts.

Although supplemental-- one doesn't need to bite into and eat a rotten apple to know the apple is rotten. One doesn't need to be a farmer, scientist, etc to know a apple they didn't grow, didn't taste, is in fact rotten.

 

[Pablo]

Geeze if I don't know something at least I will copy AI.

I was pretty surprised when I figured out Wordle will run out of 5 letter words late 2027

 

[Passport1]

What causes this? Is it overconfidence?

Superciliousness

 

[Kestas]

Here is an illustration of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

 

[K2K2]

I think the internet age made it more prevalent. People do stuff behind the keyboard that they would never do in person. Anonymity provides boldness.

This is definitely a factor.

Cue:
Flat earthers
Chemtrail conspiricists
And other crazies...for some reason, people latch on to a certain (unproven and idiotic) concepts and cannot be swayed.

It's a corollary to what OP said - opinionated and unmovable in their opinion.


Summation: people are no longer able to have an open mind.