Dunning, Kruger, and Gell-Mann Meet on the Knoll
Image by Alex Shute for Unsplash
As a writer, you are asking for the reader’s trust. So tell the truth. Always.
You may face challenges. Let’s say your employer or client wants you to misrepresent a product. Maybe they don’t intend to deceive anyone, or they want to exaggerate ever so slightly to improve their competitive position.
Or you’re on your own, and you consider embellishing your résumé to boost your job prospects.
Whatever the reason, just don’t lie. The benefits, if any, are fleeting. Your reputation is forever.
Instead, commit to getting it right. Approach each topic with an open mind. And do the research.
Research is one of the most important elements of content development. When you assume that you know enough to skip this important step, you can easily fall prey to the Dunning-Kruger Effect. That describes people who overestimate their own abilities, and knowledge. It can include those who may be experts in one field but believe themselves to be knowledgeable about a different, unrelated field. We all know people like that.
While you’re researching, be sure to consider the reliability of every source, to avoid Gell-Mann Amnesia. That term was coined by Michael Crichton, a prolific author and screenwriter, who named the phenomenon after renowned physicist Murray Gell-Mann. You know the feeling when you recognize that a news story is false when it describes your own area of expertise? Now imagine that you turn the page and believe a story — from the very same source — about some other topic that you don’t know as well. That’s Gell-Mann Amnesia.
Similarly, Knoll’s Law of Media Accuracy, expressed by journalist Erwin Knoll, posits: “Everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge.”
Some people do lie intentionally. Politicians are often accused of this, to the extent that their rare truth-telling may be referred to as a Kinsley Gaffe, after Michael Kinsley, a journalist, editor, and former co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire.” If you’re a political speechwriter, telling the truth may cause you some indigestion.
It can take a little extra time to do all the necessary research and validate your sources, but it’s worth the effort to build trust with your reader and solidify your reputation as a reliable narrator.
Stay true.
