When a person is new to a hobby or study, they may overestimate their overall competence in that specific field. That’s a heavily summed up explanation of the Dunning Kruger Effect. There’s plenty of controversy surrounding the topic, questioned by mathematicians and data scientists alike, but it certainly seems to exist throughout sports and hobbies.
In some cases, the worst this overconfidence can do is make you look stupid at a dinner party. In others, like in ski touring and alpinism, this overconfidence can lead to serious injury or death. If a person heavily overestimates their ability to, say, read the terrain and determine avalanche danger, they may walk themselves right into a tragedy. British IFMGA guide Dave Searle explained this effect in backcountry sports and how it can be avoided.
So the biggest tip for avoiding “Mount Stupid” and the Dunning-Kruger Effect is to go out with people who have much more experience than you, those who are already far past this level of overconfidence. If you can compare your lack of knowledge to much more experienced people around you, you might be able to avoid the belief that you know what you’re doing when you really don’t.
