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Happy Sunday – and happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and grandmothers! Welcome to the best of The Conversation.
First, here are some of our recently published Mother’s Day stories:
This week’s most popular story takes on the notion that the least skilled people overestimate their abilities more than anyone else. It’s an idea that entered popular culture based on research by psychology professors David Dunning and Justin Kruger in the 1990s.
The author of the piece is mathematician Eric C. Gaze, who teaches students at Bowdoin College to use data to make informed decisions. He takes us through the original research that seemingly demonstrated what is known as the “Dunning-Kruger effect” – and why his work may reveal some shortcomings in those original findings.
Later this week, we’ll bring you new research about the cost of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy, changes to breast cancer screening guidelines and South Korea’s gender wars.
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David Dunning and Justin Kruger tested psychology students to see whether the least skilled were also the most unaware.
Rich Vintage/E+ via Getty Images
Eric C. Gaze, Bowdoin College
The idea that the least skilled are the most unaware of their incompetency is pervasive in science and pop culture. But a new analysis of the data shows that the Dunning-Kruger effect may not be true.
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Charles R. Hunt, Boise State University
It doesn’t make for inspiring politics, but political scientists have determined that for candidates, it’s more valuable to have an unpopular opponent than to be personally popular yourself.
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Aaron Fichtelberg, University of Delaware
The International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant for Putin and his children’s rights commissioner in March 2023, alleging the illegal abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children.
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Rachel Goldsmith Turow, Seattle University
Many studies show that consistent meditation practice lowers depression, anxiety and self-criticism.
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Anne P. DePrince, University of Denver
Trump’s lawyers questioned E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist, about why she did not scream or call the police after, she alleged, Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
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Facial recognition software misidentifies Black women more than other people.
JLco - Ana Suanes/iStock via Getty Images
John MacCormick, Dickinson College
One researcher’s experience from a quarter-century ago shows why bias in AI remains a problem – and why the solution isn’t a simple technical fix.
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Andrew Maynard, Arizona State University
Despite the association of ‘Luddite’ with a naïve rejection of technology, the term and its origins are far richer and more complex than you might think.
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Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz, University of North Dakota
A historian of education policy says the dramatic drop in history test scores among the nation’s eighth graders was a predictable result.
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Annette Regan, University of San Francisco
The newly approved RSV vaccine could be rolled out by fall 2023, in time for the typical winter surge in RSV infections.
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Kathleen Merrigan, Arizona State University
Even if you don’t live near farm country, you’ve got a stake in the upcoming farm bill – including what kind of farms your tax dollars support.
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News Quiz 🧠
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Test your knowledge with a weekly quiz drawn from some of our favorite stories. Questions this week about farms, proms, the Middle East, outer space and more.
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