Have you ever felt like you could hit sixes off an international bowler while watching a cricket match? Or thought you could have easily scored that goal Messi just missed? Maybe even believed you could knock out someone in a street fight with just one punch? If yes, congratulations. You might have experienced the Dunning Kruger effect without even knowing it.

In 1999, David Dunning, a professor of psychology at Cornell University, and a graduate student completing his PhD, Justin Kruger, published a paper titled "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments." The paper was based on an experiment they conducted on students. The initial study by Dunning and Kruger examined the performance and self-assessment of undergraduate students in inductive, deductive, and abductive logical reasoning, English grammar, and appreciation of humor. Across four studies, the research indicated that participants who scored in the bottom quartile overestimated their test performance and abilities. Their actual test scores placed them in the 12th percentile, but they ranked themselves in the 62nd percentile. Other studies have focused on how a person's self-view causes inaccurate self-assessments. Some findings suggest that the extent of this inaccuracy depends on the type of task and can be reduced by improving actual performance.

This experiment has been conducted by various other scholars since then on different fields like business, politics, medicine, driving, aviation, spatial memory, examinations in school, and literacy. And all of the results say the same thing – people with less knowledge on a topic often overestimate their capabilities in that field. In simple words, you feel like you can fly an aeroplane if there is an emergency, or at least handle the situation better in imagination, unless you are trained. After sufficient knowledge is gained through studies and practice, one realises how tough of a job it is compared to a person who has no idea about the actual working of an aeroplane.

Interestingly, the reverse of this effect is also true. People who have knowledge about a topic often seem to underestimate their actual abilities. People who are genuinely skilled or knowledgeable in a field often underestimate their abilities. This happens because as they learn more, they become more aware of how vast and complex the subject is. They realize how much they still do not know, which makes them undervalue their own expertise. They also tend to assume that if something feels easy to them, it must be easy for everyone else too, which is rarely the case. Now you know why all the maths teachers are angry all the time.

That is why the old saying "the more you know, the less you know" fits so well. It captures the idea that true understanding makes you more aware of your limitations, while a shallow understanding creates the illusion of mastery.

Many first-time entrepreneurs fall into the Dunning Kruger trap. With limited experience, they often overestimate how easy it is to build and scale a business. The early confidence feels like clarity, but as they start facing real challenges such as finances, hiring, customer retention, and competition, they begin to realize how little they actually knew. The more they learn, the more complex it all seems. This is why humility, learning from failure, and seeking mentorship are so important in the entrepreneurial journey.

So next time you think you could have defeated Mary Kom just because you go to gym, think about this article.