The Dunning-Kruger Effect and the Covid Plandemic, By Mrs. Vera West

The blogger Conservative Woman.co.uk, is always worth reading and thinking about. In a recent post she asks why so many people, at least at first, swallowed the obvious Covid lies, hook, line and corroded sinker?She makes reference to the Dunning-Kruger effect by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger. Here individuals have a cognitive bias of over-estimating their knowledge and competencies with respect to various areas. As she notes: "the transformation from democratic society into creeping authoritarianism has by and large not been coerced. The elites have understood that a large percentage of society was vulnerable to political opportunism. Society's soft underbelly was already exposed to reveal a weak and insubstantial civil society, deep societal atomisation and a significant democratic deficit at all levels of political engagement. This cultural and political malaise has been reinforced by a complicit media that has kept people in a state of fear and emotional inertia. Many have remained unquestioning, even now, in the face of overwhelming counter-evidence."

The Dunning-Kruger effect, of a general dumbing down of the critical faculties of the population, explains much about the early stages of Covid, where family members who were vaxxed, and hence socially approved, felt that they could exclude other family members who were not vaxxed. The inconsistencies that were tolerated are amazing, looked at from a psychological perspective. People could go shopping during lockdowns, as if the plandemic, so-called, was switched off, or that the blue surgical masks could somehow stop transmission of a virus that was smaller than the gaps in the fabric. While much attention has rightfully been focussed upon the role of the elites, there are concerns about what happened at the grassroots level, that should be of interest to political movements wanting to stop a repeat of what went down in the Covid plandemic. We need to ensure people do not get fooled again, which is why this issue should not be left to die.

https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/hook-line-and-sinker-why-so-many-swallowed-the-covid-lies/

"THE Dunning-Kruger effect is a concept which was coined by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger to explain the way in which individuals hold cognitive biases, causing them to overestimate their own skills, abilities or knowledge in a particular area. The covid pandemic arguably tapped into an entire cultural phenomenon around this theory, and poses similar sorts of questions to the current media build up around mpox, i.e. will people blindly follow as before?

The 'follow the science' mantra provided particularly fertile ground for self-proclaimed 'experts' in the public to embellish and consolidate the clear lies and inconsistencies in this narrative. How many people did we know, for example, who were happy to dismiss the disappearance of flu and pneumonia during 2021/22 – arguing that this was the result of mask wearing, social distancing and lockdowns? How many people did we know who overlooked the emerging pattern of vaccine injuries with the simple dismissal: 'It could have been worse – you could have ended up in ICU with covid?' How many people justified the ridiculous mask-wearing guidelines in cafes and restaurants with the reassuring observation: 'The virus can't get you when you sit down'?

It has been well documented that the transformation from democratic society into creeping authoritarianism has by and large not been coerced. The elites have understood that a large percentage of society was vulnerable to political opportunism. Society's soft underbelly was already exposed to reveal a weak and insubstantial civil society, deep societal atomisation and a significant democratic deficit at all levels of political engagement. This cultural and political malaise has been reinforced by a complicit media that has kept people in a state of fear and emotional inertia. Many have remained unquestioning, even now, in the face of overwhelming counter-evidence.

The Dunning Kruger factor has been underplayed or largely ignored in theories of why so many people have been so willing to go along with societal changes which are clearly against their best interests. Shadowing Matthias Desmet's antecedents of mass formation psychosis – greater loneliness, widespread isolation, and increased individualism – is a longstanding generational reversal in 'metacognitive abilities' – characterised by a diminished sense of self-awareness, a reduction in critical thought, and less likelihood that people will self-evaluate, recognise and regulate their own shortcomings.

This trend became particularly clear at the beginning of this decade. A wealth of experts in the general population suddenly emerged who were apparently knowledgeable on the effects of a virus which wasn't proven to exist and still hasn't been isolated; in a vaccine that had bypassed traditional safety trials ('they had to develop it at the speed they did as a recognised medical intervention was needed as early as possible'); and were happy to echo and embellish the rhetoric of politicians, scientists, and the mainstream media – all of which had long-standing track records of lies, deception, and dubious morals. Rather than engage critically with the world around them, many fell back on simple heuristics and self-assessment analyses of these inconsistencies. The result of this was that many colluded with the agenda setters in both sustaining and perpetuating the lies, misinformation, and disinformation holding up a narrative that was clearly full of holes. Perhaps these people were the scientists that SAGE never called upon.

As argued above, diminishing levels of voting and fewer people engaged in politics in a more general sense were already a clear indication before 2020 that many would be happy to hand over autonomy, responsibility and decision-making to others. For many people it is easier to process soundbites from the media than to engage in deeper research which offers a more balanced viewpoint. Many are simply uninterested in what is happening in the world. This lack of interest can also be linked to a sense of disempowerment, or perceived inability to change things – trends which are almost normalised in politics now.

Long-term trends in societal decline have been mirrored by increased individualism, egoism and the importance of image presentation. Many people would rather pretend to be smart and confident rather than puzzled and questioning. During the early days of the pandemic, an emerging groupthink influence was especially strong. New social norms were being formed around the perceived risks of a new virus. Anyone questioning this risked being branded as an outsider, so the urge to 'go along with things' was psychologically powerful for those with a strong inclination to social approval and 'positive attention'. New forms of social learning and communication were forming around key phrases such as 'lockdown', 'flattening the curve' and 'together we can do this'. To be knowledgeable on how to proceed promised the reward of social approval. To be ill-informed threatened the safety of others. Not a good look.

Adopting a virtuous position was particularly rewarding during this time of societal change. Government rhetoric during the pandemic was heavily based on avoiding guilt, shame, and disapproval. Virtue signalling became a way for individuals to enhance their social status in a world where social belonging has been in steep decline. Thus, updating statuses on Facebook with: 'I've had my covid vaccine' suggests a psychological stance of both higher moral ground and an assumed capacity for greater expertise over others who choose to do the hard yards in doing their own research. Government narratives fed into this perfectly and were clearly designed to do so. The shaky and inconsistent messages from the establishment were eagerly propped up by a great many of the public. Unsure as to why the million people marching in London in 2021 did not spread the virus? Easy. It is because they were all asymptomatic.

The scale of the deception launched on society in March 2020 has been so big that joining the dots was not an option for many people; primarily due to the sociological and psychological elements outlined above. The emergence of Dunning Kruger as a psychological response to macro-economic change has been a big part of this. Governments required active participants who would support and legitimise their fabricated narrative and fill in the credibility gaps. A latent culture of lay experts and 'know-it-alls' fitted the bill nicely as an effective way of papering over the cracks."