There’s something called the Dunning-Kruger effect. It’s when some people believe they know more than they do — when they actually know very little. It happens especially because they don’t realize there’s more to learn.
A lot of people confidently comment on social media without having all the facts, generally because they see only a small piece of the picture and assume it’s the whole story.
They spot one detail that seems right and immediately feel like an expert, jumping in to correct others even when they’re missing the bigger context.
The phenomenon has also been attested in common sayings. For example, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” or Charles Darwin saying: “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.”
Social media acts as both a stage and amplifier for incorrect information, shaping opinions faster than fact-checkers can intervene.
Online behavior (like grammar policing) is also often louder because people feel anonymous and free to say whatever they want.
In 2025, over 72% of internet users globally encountered misinformation on at least one social platform monthly.
In the same survey, around 45% of US adults said they found it difficult to determine whether the information on social media was true or false.
About one in three Gen Z users said they’ve shared misinformation online without realizing it, thinking it was true when they posted it.
There’s also a psychological reason why people aren’t just wrong in an argument — they’re confidently wrong.
According to a study, it’s because some people believe they already have all the information they need to form an opinion, even when they actually don’t.
“Our brains are overconfident that they can arrive at a reasonable conclusion with very little information,” said Angus Fletcher, a professor at Ohio State University, who co-wrote the study.
Basically, some people are prone to jump to conclusions quickly.
Fletcher and other researchers call it the “illusion of information adequacy.”
“We found that, in general, people don’t stop to think whether there might be more information that would help them make a more informed decision. If you give people a few pieces of information that seems to line up, most will say ‘that sounds about right’ and go with that,” he said.
A UK survey of 2000 adults found that 81% of people are overconfident in their answers to a series of general knowledge questions. They answered incorrectly but believed their response to be right.
The findings revealed that baby boomers (people in the age group of 60–78) were even more likely to be confidently wrong (84% overconfident) than Gen Z or Millennials.
While confidence is a good thing, over-confidence is quite a dangerous zone.
Research shows that when we overestimate our abilities or knowledge, we might end up making bad decisions.
This happens because we don’t always see the risks or ignore other ways of looking at things.
People can be overconfident for a bunch of reasons: not getting feedback on past decisions, only paying attention to info that agrees with them, or getting caught up in strong emotions that make them feel extra sure.
Experts say people should make sure they have the full story about a situation before they take a stance or make a decision.
“Your first move when you disagree with someone should be to think, ‘Is there something that I’m missing that would help me see their perspective and understand their position better?’ That’s the way to fight this illusion of information adequacy,” Angus Fletcher says.
So, the next time you think about correcting someone without fact checking all your opinions, try being curious and humble instead.
