This study on incompetent people came out a few years ago but a recent experience reminded me of how true it is.
So, in case you missed it the first time around...
"There are many incompetent people in the world. But a Cornell University study has shown that most incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent. People who do things badly, according to David A. Dunning, a professor of psychology at Cornell, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well. One reason that the ignorant also tend to be the blissfully self-assured, the researchers believe, is that the skills required for competence often are the same skills necessary to recognize competence. "
http://www.lingsoft.fi/~reriksso/competence.html
http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/overestimate.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_7_29/ai_79826905
http://www.applesforhealth.com/competence1.html
http://comp9.psych.cornell.edu/people/Faculty/dad6.html
lots more here:
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=Cornell+University+psychology+professor+David+Dunning+competence&btnG=Search
