We Are All Confident Idiots Analysis

“We Are All Confident Idiots” by David Dunning presents a phenomenon that people often fail to recognize their own ignorance. The article was recently published on the website of Pacific Standard, and it intends to reach a wide range of readers, among them, American youth and teachers are probably the main target audience. Living in a time surrouds by expedient aceess to knowledge, people however are not any wiser. Dunning sharply points out the great extent of confidence that different people show in their unfamiliar areas, and he uses statistics and various research results from his own and others to support his arguments. The article has a subtle structure, starting with reality show, expanding on the arguments with three main types of ignorance, gradually outlining the severity of not recognizaing ignorance, and finally, effectively leading to a convincing conclusion. Dunning in the end appeals to people to admit their blindness on certain fields, because doing so helps people finding the truth.

Such an voice creates a strong connection with the readers, making them feel empathetic, thus strongly agreeing with (or disagreeing with) the author’s opinions. The article’s title, “We Are All Confident Idiots”, is provocative enough. The two seemly contradictive words, “confident” and “idiots” is eye catching, making people curious to find out how idiots can be confident, and why the author asserts so. In the following example in Kimmel’s show, Dunning used “absolutely” in response in contrast to “dazed” face when describing the interviewees, in this way, he vividly illustrates a immediate response for hiding one’s cluelessness, and for readers, such a “dazed” fan is clearly a potrait of “a confident