The Illusion of Information Adequacy

by omkon 10/11/2024, 4:43 PMwith 7 comments

by smitty1eon 10/12/2024, 1:14 AM

> they assume that the cross-section of relevant information to which they are privy is sufficient to adequately understand the situation

Is this not the Central Limit Theorem[1] ?

Nobody this side of Eternity is working with a full data set.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_limit_theorem

by jgeadaon 10/11/2024, 8:07 PM

Isn't this just restating the Dunning-Kruger effect?

Without sufficient domain knowledge you don't even know you don't have the right data, perspectives, or even know the apparent obvious paths that are actually blind alleys in a subject. Every field of human knowledge is full of these.

by the_real_cheron 10/11/2024, 6:37 PM

Telling someone they have the illusion of information adequacy is how smart people call people dumb.