Scientists on Reddit

David Dunning

Psychologist behind the Dunning-Kruger effect

u/Dr_David_Dunning ↗AMA only
How we know it's theirs

The 2014 r/science AMA, posted from this account

We retrieved 1 post and 42 comments from u/Dr_David_Dunning, all from 2014, most often in r/science.

Best moment

A redditor wrote in r/science

On “Science AMA Series:I’m David Dunning, a social psychologist whose research focuses on accuracy and illusion in self-judgment (you may have heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect). How good are we at “knowing thyself”? AMA!”

Hey David, I'm a professional video game player in a game called Dota 2 and I am trying to start teaching people about the game. To give a little bit of background about the game if you've never heard of it, Dota 2 is a 5v5 game where mistakes from your team mates--as well as…

u/Dr_David_Dunning replied

Oh, and how did I get top billing in the naming of the effect? Dunno. It does show that Justin Kruger and I did not provide the name. We don’t know how it happened, we just know that our good…

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Oh, and how did I get top billing in the naming of the effect? Dunno. It does show that Justin Kruger and I did not provide the name. We don’t know how it happened, we just know that our good family names will be associated with ignorance, incompetence, foolishness, and the like far after we leave this mortal coil.

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Behind the scenesAsked about their own famous workr/science · 1,053 points as of Nov 2026Full thread ↗

More moments

A redditor wrote in r/science

On “Science AMA Series:I’m David Dunning, a social psychologist whose research focuses on accuracy and illusion in self-judgment (you may have heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect). How good are we at “knowing thyself”? AMA!”

What are some of the misconceptions of the Dunning-Kruger effect?

u/Dr_David_Dunning replied

But the other big misconception is that the DKE is a story about other people: that other people suffer from it but not I. I believe this has caused the idea to become a second Godwin's Law, an epithet to…

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But the other big misconception is that the DKE is a story about other people: that other people suffer from it but not I. I believe this has caused the idea to become a second Godwin's Law, an epithet to throw at another person who doesn't agree with your point of view. People using the effect in this way are, ironically, not getting it. The DKE isn't about them, it is about us. We are the ones suffering from it, and should perhaps be the object of our doubt.

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Explains thingsExplaining things to strangersr/science · 27 points as of Nov 2026Full thread ↗
A redditor wrote in r/science

On “Science AMA Series:I’m David Dunning, a social psychologist whose research focuses on accuracy and illusion in self-judgment (you may have heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect). How good are we at “knowing thyself”? AMA!”

First of all, thank you for taking the time. I'm curious as to how your research has altered or affected your view of yourself, would you feel comfortable elaborating?

u/Dr_David_Dunning replied

I am no longer so surprised about being wrong, and much more willing to listen to the lessons that the world and other people are telling me. As I grow older, I recognize just how little I know. I forgot…

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I am no longer so surprised about being wrong, and much more willing to listen to the lessons that the world and other people are telling me. As I grow older, I recognize just how little I know. I forgot who said it, but one of my favorite sayings is "I am not young enough to know everything", or something like that. I believe it was Oscar Wilde...but I could be wrong.