Of course I’m above average
Studies have shown over 85% of us rate ourselves as better than average drivers. We read these results and chuckle internally, thinking there are some delusional people out there. We conveniently ignore the outrageous possibility that we might be one of those below-average drivers. Social scientists describe this bias as illusory superiority.
Why is it that when we have a modicum of skill or experience in a domain, we tend to rate ourselves as better than average? You'd think people would be a little more objective in their assessments, as overconfidence often leads to poor outcomes (which we know well - as train smashes are well shared).
Then you throw in our DIY and number 8 wire mentality, and this bias is even further compounded.
People don’t know what they don’t know. They hitch their ignorance to the rail of over-confidence. Then there’s no reason to dig deeper, question further, and explore wider - which ensures they remain blissfully ignorant of being below average.
I see this manifesting itself all over the internet in poor copy. People believing they’re better than average writers, so are quite happy to put their below-average prose out there. In doing so, they’re selling themselves short and failing to stand out. More pygmy than their imagined Maasai.
Now there’s the impressive capabilities of AI joining the party to remove the drudgery of stringing coherent sentences together. The result is the reversion to the mean will now happen faster. More average more quicker. (Proof that AI did not author this!)
We have some wonderful writers out there, but I contend they are woefully underutilised due to illusory superiority - this is evidenced by mountains of meaningless sentences cluttering sites all over the internet.
If you don’t write for a living, there is a better-than-even chance that you are below average at constructing sentences that stick. The written word is how we show up when we’re not there. You wouldn’t turn up to a job interview in your slop-around weekend clothes. Yet many are happy to do the equivalent with their web copy.
Given we are rubbish at self-assessment, the best thing to do is ask someone else. Find a person who will be honest and has more domain expertise than you. And if they give you the crushing news that your prose is ordinary, unclear, or forgettable, that’s fantastic! Because you have a wonderful improvement opportunity sitting right in front of you.
If you have this opportunity, don’t squander it. Because you want your words to work hard for you. Find someone well beyond average to retire those loafing sentences and build a team of winning words for you.
If you'd like some recommendations, Mark Easterbrook and Lizzie Davidson are a couple of word-slingers I admire.
And me of course 😉- but am I suffering from illusory superiority?
