[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-40976-en":3,"doc-seo-40976-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},40976,1374391974564,"Clementine","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000253aa45c000a9e?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779874745381141002",8,"Research & Report","We Are All Confident Idiots","We Are All Confident Idiots explains how ignorance can feel like expertise, using Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s “Lie Witness News” pranks as an entry point. The article describes interviews where people confidently discuss nonexistent bands and other false premises, even generating detailed “facts” that feel authoritative. It then contrasts entertainment with controlled Cornell research showing respondents overclaim familiarity with fabricated technical concepts, especially when they view themselves as knowledgeable.","􀀡 􀀢 􀀣 􀀤 􀀥 􀀦 􀀧 Print Subscription Digital Subscription Email Newsletter  \n􀀨  POLITICS & LAW BUSINESS & ECONOMICS HEALTH & BEHAVIOR 􀀩  \n􀀨 POLITICS & LAW BUSINESS & ECONOMICS HEALTH & BEHAVIOR NATURE & TECHNOLOGY 􀀩  \nHEALTH & BEHAVIOR  \nWe Are All Confident Idiots  \nThe trouble with ignorance is that it feels so much like expertise. A leading researcher on the psychology of human wrongness sets us straight.  \nDAVID DUNNING · OCT 27, 2014  \nLast March, during the enormous South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! sent a camera crew out into the streets to catch hipsters bluffing. \"People who go to music festivals pride themselves on knowing who the next acts are,\" Kimmel said to his studio audience, \"even if they don't actually know who the new acts are.\" So the host had his crew ask festivalgoers for their thoughts about bands that don't exist.  \n“The big buzz on the street,” said one of Kimmel’s interviewers to a man wearing thick-framed glasses anda whimsical T-shirt,“is Contact Dermatitis. Do you think he has what it takes to really make it to the bigtime?”  \n“Absolutely,”came the dazed fan’s reply.  \nThe prank was an installment of Kimmel’s recurring “Lie Witness News” feature, which involves asking pedestrians a variety of questions with false premises. In another episode, Kimmel’s crew asked people on Hollywood Boulevard whether they thought the 2014 film Godzilla was insensitive to survivors ofthe 1954 giant lizard attack on Tokyo; in a third, they asked whether Bill Clinton gets enough credit for ending the Korean War, and whether his appearance as a judge on America’s Got Talent would damage his legacy.“No,” said one woman to this last question.“It will make him even more popular.”  \nOne can’t help but feel for the people who fall into Kimmel’s trap. Some appear willing to say just about anything on camera to hide their cluelessness about the subject at hand (which, of course, has the opposite effect). Others seem eager to please, not wanting to let the interviewer down by giving the most boringly appropriate response: I don’t know. But for some of these interviewees, the trap may be an even deeper one. The most confident-sounding respondents often seem to think they do have some clue—as if there is some fact, some memory, or some intuition that assures them their answer is reasonable.  \nAt one point during South by Southwest, Kimmel’s crew approached a poised young woman with brown hair.“What have you heard about Tonya and the Hardings?” the interviewer asked.“Have you heard they’re kind of hard-hitting?” Failing to pick up on this verbal wink, the woman launched into an elaborate response about the fictitious band.“Yeah, a lot of men have been talking about them, saying they’re really impressed,”she replied.“They’re usually not fans of female groups, but they’re really making a statement.” From some mental gossamer, she was able to spin an authoritative review of Tonya and the Hardings incorporating certain detailed facts: that they’re real; that they’re female (never mind that, say, Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper aren’t); and that they’re a tough, boundary-breaking group.  \nIn many cases, incompetence does not leave people disoriented, perplexed, or cautious. Instead, the incompetent are often blessed with an inappropriate confidence, buoyed by something that feels to them like knowledge.  \nTo be sure, Kimmel’s producers must cherry-pick the most laughable interviews to put the air. But latenight TV is not the only place where one can catch people extemporizing on topics they know nothing about. In the more solemn confines of a research lab at Cornell University, the psychologists Stav Atir, Emily Rosenzweig, and I carry out ongoing research that amounts to a carefully controlled, less flamboyant version of Jimmy Kimmel’s bit. In our work, we ask survey respondents if they are familiar with certain technical concepts from physics, biology, politics, and geography.","cbCaibKDpjzuNY6D","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibKDpjzuNY6D","pdf",142019,2,1,12,"English","en",105,"# The Kimmel Street Prank\n## Lie Witness News as a Test of Confidence\n# When Incompetence Feels Certain\n# Cornell Lab Research on False Familiarity","[{\"question\":\"Why do people often answer confidently when they know nothing about the subject?\",\"answer\":\"Because ignorance can feel like expertise, respondents may rely on a sense of familiarity—an intuition or memory-like feeling—that makes their answer feel reasonable.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the Jimmy Kimmel “Lie Witness News” prank work in the article?\",\"answer\":\"Kimmel’s crew asks pedestrians questions built on false premises, such as made-up bands, and records how interviewees react with seemingly informed responses.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the Cornell research described in the article investigate?\",\"answer\":\"Researchers ask survey participants whether they are familiar with technical concepts from multiple fields, then compare genuine terms with fabricated ones to measure how often people overclaim knowledge.\"}]",1783317313,30,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"we-are-all-confident-idiots","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/we-are-all-confident-idiots/40976/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-14","2026-07-06",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why do people often answer confidently when they know nothing about the subject?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Because ignorance can feel like expertise, respondents may rely on a sense of familiarity—an intuition or memory-like feeling—that makes their answer feel reasonable.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How does the Jimmy Kimmel “Lie Witness News” prank work in the article?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Kimmel’s crew asks pedestrians questions built on false premises, such as made-up bands, and records how interviewees react with seemingly informed responses.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What does the Cornell research described in the article investigate?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Researchers ask survey participants whether they are familiar with technical concepts from multiple fields, then compare genuine terms with fabricated ones to measure how often people overclaim knowledge.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,122,127,130,134],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":29,"slug":121},"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]