When we aren’t overestimating ourselves and our abilities, most of us can also be prone to bouts of uncertainty. The majority of us have no shortage of self-doubt or regrets, and at times, it’s overwhelming how much we can be our own worst critics. The negative self-talk rears its ugly head when we least need it to. Yet somehow, this all balances out in the complex yin and yang of the human psyche.
But what happens when a person isn’t balanced in this way, when a person can’t (or won’t) admit they don’t have all the answers? When they don’t ever humble themselves, correct mistakes, apologize, or confess wrongdoings — even when everyone around them can see it? What happens when a person is both overconfident and incompetent at the same time? Moreover, what happens when that person is also driven by a toxic mix of rage and narcissism, has a fragile ego, and lacks empathy and remorse? This is a very dangerous combination of traits, and it typically yields our society a dangerous psychopath.
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Much has been said about 45th President Donald Trump in comparison to some of these psychopaths — namely, Adolf Hitler. Parallels have been drawn between everything from the forces contributing to Trump’s election victory and the rise of Hitler in 1930’s Germany, to both Trump and Hitler’s rhetoric, namely, their use of authoritarianism, racism, ethnic myths, and dehumanizing language. The opportunities for comparison seem bountiful, and they are easy to draw. But is it fair or accurate to put Donald Trump in the same category as some of history’s most notorious psychopaths?
In Psychology, the Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with little expertise or ability assume they have superior expertise or ability. Research on this effect highlights how people who perform in many social and intellectual domains seem largely unaware of just how deficient their expertise is. David Dunning and Justin Kruger argue that incompetence not only causes poor performance but also the inability to recognize that one’s performance is poor. Simply put, the Dunning-Kruger effect happens when someone is ignorant of their own ignorance, but furthermore, are overconfident in their knowledge or abilities.
This rings very true of Trump. He overstimates his abilities. All the time. He has absolutely no idea what he’s doing with regard to politics. But he claims “I alone can fix it,” and, “nobody knows more about (insert topic here) than Donald Trump.”
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Aside from his mental delusion though, every aspect of Trump is staged. From his fake tan to his elaborate comb-over that only gets coiffed in private, behind a huge black curtain (an acquaintance of mine bore witness to this in her NYC studio), every detail is honed to Trump’s shellacked vision of perfection. And Trump’s supporters are none the wiser. For them, ignorance is bliss — at least when it comes to self-perception of one’s own knowledge and abilities.
