Dunning-Kruger effect is at play.

In the current post-truth era, where truth no more matters, and when fake information is pedalled and imbibed through osmosis, everyone behaves as the most authentic person in town; the pseudo-savants. The deluge of half-cooked information has produced people with shallow knowledge who are nothing more than intellectual quacks. Such people actually suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect under the influence of which individuals with half or no knowledge about a phenomenon paradoxically pose as the most authentic source of information on that very topic.

This is to perpetrate intellectual dishonesty and reasoning corruption. Although the Dunning-Kruger effect remained scientifically undiscovered till the late 20th century, it was present in human society as is corroborated in proverbial sayings, like 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

Even writers through the ages warned of its deleterious impact. Charles Darwin said: 'Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.' But now the whole thing has attained pandemic proportions, especially, but not exclusively, in our part of the globe with questionable digital literacy.

The ubiquitous affectees, the victims of Dunning-Kruger effect, are ever ready to express their half-baked opinions unasked on every matter whether it falls in their purview or not. They shun others opinions with definitiveness without giving a single thought.

It makes them intolerant in discussions and dialogues where they barge into on their own. Actually it springs from knowledge gap when they fail to keep pace with the world around them which is moving on at high velocity. Their inflated self-assessment makes them egoistic regarding the acceptance of their opinions. Their inauthentic ideation ends up making them persona non grata in public discourse.

The study of the Dunning-Kruger effect in the field of education goes a long way in gauging the rot that is eating into the vitals of our education system. Students spending more time on digital screen are know-it-all, and they do not like to listen to teachers even on topics that require experience-based knowledge.

Students gloss over their incompetence because they genuinely and most sincerely overestimate their abilities. It further leads to their inability to recognise that their performance in studies is poor. They are incapacitated to rectify their shortcomings as long as they remain under...