Expert syndrome: don't get caught up in it!

Content

Expert Syndrome Definition: Self-proclaimed professionals
Expert Syndrome: Changed Access to Information
Expert Syndrome: Study reveals know-it-alls
Expert Syndrome: Dunning-Kruger Effect
Impostor Syndrome: The opposite of Expert Syndrome
Avoiding danger: How to recognize the expert syndrome
Unlimited subject
One-sided thinking
Problematic Sources
Quick solutions
Other readers will find these articles interesting:

Whenever a situation or thing requires a more complex approach, an expert is needed. One hopes to get some advice from him on how to handle this or that. It gets bitter when you talk to someone Expert Syndrome advised: You put your trust in this person, you may even invest money and ultimately crash landing because of some obscure tips. Ugly! How do you recognize the self-proclaimed experts ...

Expert Syndrome Definition: Self-proclaimed professionals

There are different names for someone with expert syndrome: know-it-all, smartass, or impostor. The phenomenon is not new. I mean someone, he himself considered himself an expert; the particularly pronounced cases have to everyone Problem the right solution.

Some outsiders feel like that incredibly comforting, because he radiates absolute certainty and self-confidence. It's also so pleasant: there is a problem and there he is, the (self-proclaimed) expert who knows what to do right away. He attracts insecure people.

People with expert syndrome like to add their mustard to anything that makes them unappealing to other people. Because such an expert syndrome takes care of someone with the appropriate personality Attention addiction. Scientists believe that the incidence of Expert Syndrome has increased over time.

Expert Syndrome: Changed Access to Information

This is not only due to the fact that things can be better documented and handed down these days. Also the change in the media world, the exchange and the circulation of News and information is completely different today than it was a few decades ago.

The expert syndrome is thus also a mirror of the current one social change processes. If purely egoistic motives are in the foreground, which are aimed at harming others, one can clearly speak of fraud.

Someone with expert syndrome believes On the other hand, knowing a real expert is characterized by having one Above-average extensive knowledge has a specialty or special skills. However, this expertise is not something that can be obtained in a jiffy:

However, it is precisely this phenomenon increasingly observe: Years of study, knowledge acquired through field research, critical review of sources - suddenly none of that counts anymore.

At least in certain circles, such as conspiracy theorists or even among people with expert syndrome, for whom overestimation of one's self is the main problem.

Expert Syndrome: Study reveals know-it-alls

Stav Atir from Cornell University in Ithaca and his colleagues Emily Rosenzweig and David Dunning observed the following in studies: People with expert syndrome are more likely to be carried away wrong knowledge to claim for yourself.

This also as Overclaiming (in German, for example: claiming something beyond measure for yourself) leads to these people assessing their knowledge as extraordinarily great and claiming knowledge of things that do not exist.

Specifically, this could be demonstrated in a series of experiments in which the test subjects were asked to assess for themselves how well they know their way around the world of finance. To do this, the researchers presented them with a list 15 supposed technical termsfor which the subjects had to indicate whether they were known to them or not.

It turned out that those with Expert Syndrome who may actually have had knowledge of inflation or equity loans, too particularly safe were to know the term "annualized credit". However, this was an invention of the researchers.

Stav Atir and his colleagues were able to observe the expert syndrome not only in financial topics, but also in other areas such as biology and literature. Fascinatingly, even changed previous warnings to the test participants that invented technical terms were also used, nothing about the results.

Expert Syndrome: Dunning-Kruger Effect

The social psychologist David Dunning has been researching this topic for some time. In 1999, together with his colleague Justin Kruger, he described the "Dunning-Kruger effect", which reads like a definition of the expert syndrome. Accordingly, the overconfidence always runs in four stages from:

Your own knowledge is overestimated due to incompetence.
The extent of one's own incompetence is not recognized.
As a result, your own competence cannot be increased.
Thus, the superior abilities are in turn underestimated by others.

The cause of this is, on the one hand, that people with expert syndrome too selective perception tend: You simply perceive excerpts of a certain issue, partial information, and already imagine yourself to be an expert with this half-knowledge.

On the other hand, there is either a lack of such a thing Feedback from peoplethat indicate errors or it is simply ignored. Because the process of realizing that you know a lot less than you think is of course not particularly pleasant.

This not only requires critical self-reflection, but also a certain sovereignty in the Dealing with your own mistakes.

Impostor Syndrome: The opposite of Expert Syndrome

The funny thing is: a lot of people who could rightly call themselves experts because they have dealt with a certain subject for years are far more humble. This may be because their expertise makes them one Overview of the subject and be able to gauge how extensive it is.

Some of them develop the opposite of expert syndrome called impostor syndrome. These people live in constant fear that someone might discover their ignorance, that they might be exposed as an impostor: They fear that it will come out that they are in fact can and know nothing.

There are several reasons for this fear. Some find it incredibly easy to acquire knowledge. The widespread opinion, however, is that knowledge is itself worked hard must become. Conversely, impostors come to the conclusion that they don't know anything, or at least their knowledge is of little value.

In addition, perfectionism is another cause:

I know that I know nothing.

This quote, which is often ascribed to the ancient philosopher Socrates, could be called Solution for people with impostor syndrome be valid. The knowledge they have acquired is never enough because they know full well that there is still someone who knows more in this area.

This thinking can lead to a hamster wheel: Impostors regularly try to get their To expand knowledge and as a result, they become even more experts. And that, in turn, fundamentally distinguishes them from people with expert syndrome: They do not expand their knowledge, because they already believe they are omniscient.

Avoiding danger: How to recognize the expert syndrome

The lack of training of those with expert syndrome can be drastic consequences to have. Anyone who thinks they are an expert makes wrong decisions. In the finance sector, this can ruin a company. This problem can also be observed in the health sector - with consequences for the environment, for example currently with vaccination opponents.

Solid half-knowledge combined with quasi-religious beliefs lead to decisions where others neglect to have. The problem is that someone with Expert Syndrome often comes across as very confident, while those with Impostor Syndrome tend to weigh things up.

What can you do about this Mitigate risk? Be critical when observing the following:

Unlimited subject
People with Expert Syndrome know the answer to everything. They would never admit if anything is over their horizon. Typical Dunning-Kruger effect: They don't recognize their incompetence. Real experts, on the other hand, know their limits and will identify them.
One-sided thinking
Someone with expert syndrome thinks in black and white categories and will say exactly that even in situations where there is no clear answer. But that is exactly what is dubious; real experts will also present opposing views in order to present the most comprehensive picture possible.
Problematic Sources
These “experts” obtain their knowledge exclusively from internet sources. There is also access to reputable sources there, but also a lot of crap. The internet should never be the exclusive source for real research and real expertise; real experts conduct field research themselves and gain first-hand knowledge.
Quick solutions
Anyone who suffers from expert syndrome has the answer immediately. Even if you have contrary information, someone like that will still be absolutely convinced of his variant. Real experts, on the other hand, will get support from other experts or do other research, especially in the case of more complex issues.