liveonearth: (TommyLeeJones_skeptical)
liveonearth ([personal profile] liveonearth) wrote2016-06-28 01:53 pm

Factoid of the Day: Optimism Bias in 80% of Population

This factoid from the documentary on netflix called (Dis)Honesty.  It's about a scientist and his experiments about lying.  He (and others) have found that about 80% of Americans at least believe that they are above average, and this is diplomatically called the Optimism Bias.  So 80% of us believe that we are smarter than average.  Better drivers, lovers, cooks.  You get the idea.

If 50% actually are above average, and 30% more think they are when they are not, then we are surrounded by blowhards, egotists, optimists of the ickiest kind.  I guess the other 20% knows that they are below average or thinks that they are even if they are above average.

[identity profile] bobby1933.livejournal.com 2016-07-02 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, but maybe not our "true nature."

[identity profile] liveonearth.livejournal.com 2016-07-02 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
That's the question, eh. What is our true nature? Your answer reveals your metaphysics.