Re:Unskilled and Unaware of It (1999) [pdf]
by dragonwriter on Thursday January 11, 2018 @07:22PM
(#16129373)
> How does the knowledge of the paper's findings benefit society?
At a minimum (assuming that it held up; it's been widely criticized since) it would tell us that self-assessment, even aside from intentional dishonesty, is a dangerous basis for assessing ability in intellectual domains.
Conversely, it also would inform us that people that mis-assessing their own abilities in certain ways may well be honest rather than padding or demonstrating false humility.
At a minimum (assuming that it held up; it's been widely criticized since) it would tell us that self-assessment, even aside from intentional dishonesty, is a dangerous basis for assessing ability in intellectual domains.
Conversely, it also would inform us that people that mis-assessing their own abilities in certain ways may well be honest rather than padding or demonstrating false humility.