Above is an image of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is a form of cognitive bias. It’s based on some research that was done in 1999 that discovered the phenomenon.

What the research found is that those with low-ability often suffer with an illusory superiority, where they erroneously believe they are better at or know more than they really do.

Dunning and Kruger proposed that, for a given skill, incompetent people will:

• Fail to recognise their own lack of skill
• Fail to recognise the extent of their inadequacy
• Fail to accurately gauge skill in others
• Recognise and acknowledge their own lack of skill only after they are exposed to training for that skill

The opposite is then true at the other end of the spectrum. Individuals with very high ability often underestimate their competence in their area of expertise. They assume that the tasks are easy and so feel that others must be at a similar competency to themselves. Basically, they undervalue how good they really are.

At it’s worst, these individuals can suffer with the “imposter syndrome”. High achieving individuals who have an inability to perceive their accomplishments and have a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.

I think the idea of the Dunning-Kruger effect is very important to keep in mind for new health practitioners or would be practitioners who have an interest in health and are thinking about getting into this line of work.

There are those who are completely delusional about what they know or how easy health is. Maybe they saw a documentary on Netflix or they read a few books and now they talk with a huge amount of confidence on the subject.

To these people, my recommendation is to read more. And to read widely; going for books that challenge what you think you “know” rather than creating an echo chamber for your already held beliefs. Because with this increase in knowledge, you’ll discover how little you know.

And the truth is, no matter how long someone has been doing this work, they’ll feel like they know very little. If anything, the longer you study, the more you appreciate how true this is.

Then there are those who are in the thick of it during the early stages. They’ve now read so much that they are aware of how little they know and they are completely confused.

My advice is that this is completely normal and just keep going. You’re not stupid, this is what happens when you learn something new or something as complicated as health or physiology.

Most people know the idea of compound interest, that in the beginning the gains are pretty small but over years and decades these really pick up monument and the end result can be massive.

The concept of compound interest also applies to learning. In the beginning after you’ve passed the delusional stage of being so “smart,” you find yourself feeling like you are spinning the tyres in the mud and you’re going nowhere.

But even though you are barely noticing it, the compound interest is starting to take effect. You keep doing what you’re doing by continuing to study and reading more or working with more clients and with time you’ll notice the improvements in your understanding.

Then with the longer you keep this up, the easier it is to acquire new knowledge. You have a base understanding and you can easily slot this new information into your model, and this is the case even if it goes against your current line of thinking. You just have a better ability at understanding the big picture and the tiny details.

And at some point you start to feel confident in what you do know. You’re not delusional about it, but you can speak on the topic and understand the different variables that could be causing this or that to happen.

You get to stage where you are happy to say “I don’t know”. In the beginning you feel that you should know everything and uttering this phrase shows a level of incompetence.

But over time you discover that no matter how much you study there are going to be questions that stump you. So rather than feeling dread with saying “I don’t know,” you realise that it’s part and parcel of the field you work in.

Working in the arena of health is tough. There is always new research coming out. But there is also mountains of older research or books or talks that you still haven’t got to yet.

Please don’t let this cause overwhelm. If you worked every hour for the rest of your life you’d barely scratch the surface. Be ok with this and just do what you can to further your knowledge and to help people with this, if this is what you want to do.

In a time when we are surrounded by the highlight reels of life on Facebook and Instagram and the overconfidence and complete hyperbole that characterises so much of how people speak, please keep the Dunning-Kruger effect in mind.

Because those who are shouting the loudest often have the least knowledge or ability to help you despite the façade they create. As life and health isn’t as simple as they make out.

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