On April 19, 1995, McArthur Wheeler walked into two Pittsburg banks and robbed them at gunpoint in broad daylight.
Interestingly, he neither wore a mask nor a disguise and to make matters more intriguing, he smiled at the surveillance cameras before leaving the banks.
Not surprisingly, it didn't take the Pittsburg police much time to track him down.
When Wheeler was arrested just a few hours later, he was genuinely baffled that the cops were able to identify him as the robber and as he was being led away, he mumbled in disbelief - "But I wore the juice."
Wheeler believed that if lemon juice can be used to make invisible ink, applying it on his face should make him invisible to surveillance cameras.
This utterly bizarre and amusing crime caught the attention of a Cornell university psychologist David Dunning.
Along with his research assistant Justin Kruger, David Dunning conducted an experiment in which he asked 65 participants to rate a series of jokes.
What they found was fascinating.
People who were bad at recognizing what others would find funny were also more likely to think they were excellent judges of humor.
In other words, they were not only bad at recognizing funny jokes, they were also bad at recognizing their personal shortcomings as a poor judge of humor.
I know what you are thinking - humor is subjective, what's funny for one isn't necessarily funny for others.
But this experiment was replicated across other domains - logical reasoning and grammar and the results were similar.
To sum up - the more incompetent, unaware and ignorant we are, the more likely we are to overestimate our ability, competence and knowledge.
On the converse, the more competent and knowledgeable we are, the more likely we are to be aware of our limitations and be open to new ideas and perspectives even if they contradict our existing beliefs.
In the words of Aristotle, "The more you know, the more you know you don't know."
This is why I think it's natural for even the top performers- artists, authors, musicians, sportsmen etc. to suffer from imposter syndrome.
The imposter syndrome by itself isn't the problem- in fact it can help you be more self-aware, prevent you from being complacent, constantly drive you to keep improving your skills and instill a sense of humility to keep you grounded.
This shouldn't be too surprising.
Just look around and you will find plenty of validation - from politicians to their rabid supporters to clueless family members fiercely debating at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
No wonder Thomas Sowell said, "The people who are scariest to me are the people who don't even know enough to realize how little they know."
When I learned about the Dunning–Kruger effect, I started reflecting on my own strengths and weaknesses.
As someone who has suffered from low self-esteem and low self-confidence, there aren't many things I honestly think I am good at.
There are many things I am absolutely terrible at - far too many to list.
Interestingly, I always thought I was a very good driver until one day my wife burst my bubble.
"You are a horrible driver." she declared.
I initially thought she was joking, but she wasn't.
"You are too rash and erratic." she continued.
"But I have hardly had any accidents." I protested.
"Really? is that the yardstick you are going to use to tell me you are a good driver?"
After some quiet introspection and honest assessment, I agreed she was right.
As George Carlin said,
"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"