How to Think About Competence More Clearly and Why Novices Resist Experts

When Opinions Clash with Expertise

You have probably seen it happen. Someone discovers a topic, reads a few articles, or watches a handful of videos. They feel confident in their new understanding. When they share their opinion and an expert corrects them, the conversation shifts. Instead of curiosity, they respond with defensiveness. What could have been a moment of learning becomes a quiet contest of pride.

You may have felt this yourself. It is easy to believe that your opinion deserves equal standing with someone else’s, especially when the topic feels accessible or emotionally charged. The internet encourages this by placing everyone’s comments side by side. A casual opinion appears equal to a doctoral thesis. The difference lies in what you do not see. Behind the expert’s words are decades of study, failure, correction, and refinement. That depth cannot be replaced by enthusiasm alone.

This is not a judgment against being new to something. It is a reminder of how growth works. You do not lose value by not knowing everything. You gain strength when you can recognize someone who knows more and choose to learn from them. When you stop seeing expertise as a threat, you give yourself room to improve with clarity instead of resistance.

You still have the right to ask questions, to challenge ideas, and to think independently. You do not have to surrender your voice. What matters is knowing when to listen and when to speak. Professionals, scientists, and experts are not always perfect, but they have built their understanding through structure, evidence, and time. You do not have to match that to engage with it, but you do need to respect the difference. That is how you sharpen your thinking without losing your footing.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect and Overconfidence in Beginners

When you first learn something new, the experience often feels energizing. You grasp a few key ideas, things start to make sense, and suddenly you feel confident. That confidence can trick you into thinking you understand more than you actually do. This is a common cognitive bias known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.

In 1999, psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger published a study showing that people with low skill or knowledge in a particular area tend to overestimate their competence. You might feel sure of your understanding not because you truly grasp the subject, but because you do not yet know how much there is to learn. In other words, you don’t know what you don’t know. Without enough experience to see your own blind spots, your mind fills in the gaps with false certainty.

This bias appears most often in complex fields. Medicine, engineering, psychology, and cybercrime are good examples. These subjects involve systems that are not obvious on the surface. There are layers of variables, exceptions, and interdependencies that only become visible after years of careful study. When you are new to a topic like this, your early exposure gives you just enough understanding to feel confident, but not enough to question your own conclusions.

Early confidence feels good, but it does not equal mastery. If you assume you already know enough, you are less likely to keep learning. That can hold you back more than ignorance. Real growth requires you to keep your mind open, especially when you start to feel certain.

You do not need to distrust yourself. You just need to slow down and recognize the difference between feeling confident and being competent. When you understand the Dunning-Kruger effect, you can pause before assuming your viewpoint holds equal weight with someone who has spent decades working in the field. That is not weakness. It is intellectual maturity.

Why Competence Feels Threatening to the Inexperienced

When someone corrects you or speaks with authority on a subject you barely understand, it can feel personal. You might hear their confidence and think they are trying to put you down. You might feel dismissed or embarrassed. That discomfort is not always about what was said—it is often about how it makes you feel about yourself.

If you are still learning, it is natural to want to feel capable. You want your views to matter. When someone presents facts that challenge your opinion or tells you that something is wrong, you might interpret that as a judgment of your intelligence. This is not just about information. It is about identity. If you see yourself as a smart, competent person, being corrected can feel like a threat to that self-image.

You may also confuse assertiveness with arrogance. When someone speaks clearly and confidently about their area of expertise, they are not always being rude or condescending. They are drawing from a deep well of knowledge, often built over years or even decades. Real professionals tend to carry a sense of responsibility when they speak, especially when the subject affects health, safety, or other people’s well-being.

This is why their language might feel blunt. They do not always hedge their statements with uncertainty because they have seen the patterns repeat over and over again. That pattern recognition is not guesswork. It is built through repetition, evidence, testing, and failure. You might hold a strong opinion on a topic, but if that opinion comes from limited exposure or recent learning, it may not hold the same weight as someone who has studied it in depth.

You are not less for being newer to a subject. But you grow faster when you can set ego aside and listen to those who know more. Expertise does not threaten your worth. It offers you a shortcut to learn what would take years to discover on your own. That is not a power play. It is a gift if you are willing to receive it.

The Internet Has Flattened Perceived Authority

When you open your browser, every voice looks the same. Whether it is a Nobel Prize winner, a medical doctor, or someone sharing an opinion from their living room, the text appears in the same font. The screen does not distinguish between decades of study and five minutes of guesswork. That creates a false sense of equality. You may start to believe that all opinions deserve the same weight, just because they are easy to find.

Search engines and social media make this problem worse. These platforms do not rank content by accuracy. They rank it by engagement. The posts that get shared the most are not always the most correct. They are the ones that provoke, entertain, or confirm what people already believe. Confidence gets rewarded, even when it is based on nothing. You may see someone speak with bold certainty and assume they must know what they are talking about.

This leads to what researchers call the “Google Illusion” or “Internet-induced epistemic overconfidence.”  Also, more recently, the “AI Illusion” occurs when AI finds it for you. When you find information quickly, your brain assumes you understand it deeply. You read an article or watch a video, and suddenly feel like you grasp the issue. In truth, you might only be scratching the surface. Real understanding takes time. It requires you to sort good information from bad, to examine contradictions, and to learn how different ideas fit together.

Access to information is not the same as expertise. You can find thousands of facts online, but if you do not know how to interpret them, you may end up more confused than informed. Experts do more than recall facts. They know which facts matter, why they matter, and how to apply them responsibly. They also know what they do not know. That humility is part of what makes them reliable.

The internet gives you incredible tools to learn, but it also gives you illusions. You need to recognize when confidence is covering ignorance. You also need to know when to pause and listen to those who have done the work. Not because they are better than you, but because they can help you see what you might otherwise miss.

The truth is that true experts in multiple fields (polymaths) are exceedingly rare – see below for more on this.

Why Experts Seem Cold or Detached But Are Not

When you hear an expert speak, you might think they sound distant or unemotional. They often use technical words, qualify their statements, or speak in a calm tone, even when the topic feels urgent. That can come across as cold, especially if you are dealing with something personal. You may want reassurance, clarity, or support. Instead, you hear what sounds like uncertainty or formality. It is easy to misread that as arrogance or detachment.

In reality, professionals learn to speak carefully for a reason. They are trained to avoid assumptions and to stay within the boundaries of what they know. Precision matters. One wrong word can mislead people or cause harm. So instead of guessing, they say, “We do not know yet,” or “The evidence suggests,” or “It depends on the conditions.” That kind of language might frustrate you if you are looking for certainty. It can feel like they are avoiding the question, even when they are just being accurate.

Experts also avoid making promises they cannot keep. If someone gives you a fast answer without knowing the full context, they are not acting as a professional. Real expertise includes the discipline to pause, to ask questions, and to avoid speculation. That restraint is a form of respect. It shows they take your question seriously enough not to mislead you.

Science and professional practice require you to admit what you do not know. That is part of intellectual honesty. When an expert says, “We are still researching this,” or “There are multiple interpretations,” they are not dodging responsibility. They are showing you where the edge of knowledge stands today. To someone new to the field, that may sound like hedging. To those with experience, it sounds like the truth.

You might feel more comfortable with someone who speaks with emotion or certainty. You might prefer answers that feel strong and direct. But be careful. Confidence is not always connected to knowledge. In many fields, the person who pauses, questions, and clarifies is the one who has earned your trust. They are not cold. They are focused. They are not detached. They are committed to clarity and care. That is what real expertise looks like.

Why Not All Opinions Are Equal in Certain Contexts

Your experiences matter. The way you see the world, the values you hold, and the conclusions you reach based on your life all have meaning. Critical thinking plays a role in helping you question claims, challenge assumptions, and reflect on what you believe. At the same time, there are situations where opinion and expertise do not carry the same weight. This is especially true when facts, systems, or scientific evidence are involved.

You are free to hold personal beliefs about topics like health, finance, psychology, or law. That freedom does not mean every opinion is equally informed or valid in a professional setting. You might have thoughts about how vaccines work or doubts about how algorithms influence social media. That does not make your view equal to someone who has studied immunology or computer science for twenty years. Personal insight is valuable, but it does not replace technical accuracy.

If someone has spent thousands of hours testing, researching, and applying knowledge in a field, their conclusions carry more weight in that domain. That is not about ego or authority. It is about track record and verified outcomes. If a surgeon tells you how to manage a rare condition, their guidance is rooted in experience and evidence. If you choose to disagree, that is your right, but it does not mean the facts change.

Humility in these moments helps you grow. You do not need to surrender your voice. You only need to recognize that listening to those with deeper knowledge can sharpen your perspective. This is not about obedience. It is about intellectual honesty. You respect yourself when you admit there are things you still do not know. You strengthen your judgment when you stop confusing confidence with competence.

By staying open, you build trust in those who have earned their roles through effort and proof, not by claiming to know everything, but by showing what it really means to understand something well. That is not weakness. That is wisdom.

Emotional Safety in Disagreeing with Authority

You can disagree with authority without losing your voice or your confidence. Disagreement, when grounded in curiosity and a willingness to learn, helps everyone grow, including professionals. The key is knowing how to challenge ideas without assuming that every disagreement is personal or combative. You create emotional safety for yourself by learning how to question without attacking.

You have a right to question experts. That becomes most effective when you bring training, data, or relevant experience into the conversation. If you lack those, you still have the right to ask for clarification or express concern, but it helps to approach those moments with humility instead of assuming you are being dismissed. A good expert will respect honest questions and thoughtful challenges. What they resist is false certainty with no foundation.

That is where epistemic humility comes in. You protect your mind when you admit what you do not know. You make space for better decisions when you recognize that someone else may have knowledge you have not yet earned. This is not weakness. It is clarity. When you approach a disagreement with the attitude that you might have something to learn, you remain emotionally grounded and intellectually open.

Ironically, trusting expertise can give you more freedom, not less. When you allow a trained professional to guide you through a complex issue, you can focus your energy where it matters. You still decide what actions to take. You still hold responsibility for your choices. What changes is the quality of the information you use. Reliable expertise is not there to dominate you. It exists to protect your autonomy by helping you make informed decisions with fewer blind spots. That trust, when placed wisely, strengthens your independence.

Scam Victims and the Rejection of Professional Help

After a scam, your trust is shattered. That includes your trust in others, but also in yourself. When someone deceives you so completely, it becomes hard to know who to believe. You may tell yourself you know what you’re doing. You may avoid psychologists, therapists, law enforcement, or scam recovery advocates. You may think you are safer keeping control. What you may not see is how that reaction feeds your pain instead of reducing it.

Trauma makes it difficult to evaluate your own needs. You may feel ashamed and want to prove that you can fix things alone. You may tell yourself that no one else understands or that professionals will judge you. These are normal emotional responses to betrayal. They are also distortions. Trauma shifts how you see yourself and others. You might confuse guidance with control, or caution with dismissal.

You are not wrong for feeling defensive. That comes from being hurt. But if you push everyone away, including those trained to help, you only increase the burden you carry. You do not have to figure everything out by yourself. Expertise exists for a reason. A trauma-informed psychologist can help you separate your identity from your experience. A qualified advocate can give you tools to rebuild without pressure; a novice cannot. Law enforcement may not always respond the way you want, but they are still part of the larger system working to stop these crimes.

When you reject help out of pride, fear, or pain, you extend your suffering. Recovery slows down. Isolation deepens. No one will force you to heal a certain way, but you need to ask if your current path is really working. When you open the door, even slightly, to people who understand the depth of this kind of loss, you take a real step forward. Let the right help in. It does not make you weak. It makes you wise.

How to Develop a Healthier Relationship With Expertise

You do not need to distrust yourself to respect someone else’s knowledge. A healthy relationship with expertise starts with curiosity, not fear. It begins when you shift from proving you are right to wanting to understand more. That shift builds confidence without cutting you off from the people who have studied, practiced, and tested what they know.

Start by asking questions. If something feels off or confusing, do not shut down or assume the worst. Ask the expert to explain further. Look for patterns in their answers. Do they show their reasoning? Are they clear about what they know and what they don’t? These are signs of real expertise.

You also need to learn how to vet your sources. Anyone can sound confident, especially online. That does not mean they are credible. Check credentials. Look at the consistency of their work. Find out who trusts them and why. A single blog post is not equal to years of research, peer review, or direct field experience. Respect the difference.

Get used to saying, “I don’t know enough about that.” It does not mean you are ignorant. It means you are aware and honest. That honesty protects you from falling into the trap of false certainty. You can still form your own views, but you do it from a place of grounded understanding.

When you defer to someone who knows more, you do not give up your voice. You show strength. You show discipline. Trusting professionals when it matters most is a sign of maturity, not weakness. That trust should never be blind, but it should be informed.

Keep learning. Keep reading. Keep questioning. Just know that deep learning takes time. You are not supposed to master everything at once. Let experts be part of your journey. They are not there to silence you. They are there to help you see further than you could on your own.

Conclusion: Confidence Without Competence Is Not Wisdom

You may feel confident in your instincts or opinions, but confidence alone does not equal competence. True wisdom comes when you know the difference. It takes strength to say, “I don’t know enough yet.” That honesty opens the door to learning, growth, and better decisions.

It takes maturity to seek help and accept guidance from those who know more. That choice is not a sign of failure. It means you care enough about the outcome to involve people with the skill and training to help you move forward. Professionals are not trying to overpower you. They are not asking you to bow down or abandon your judgment. Most of them want to help, inform, and support. They carry responsibility with their knowledge, not just status.

When you treat humility as a strength, you begin to grow in ways that defensiveness never allows. You open space in yourself to learn, adapt, and improve. That mindset does not make you small. It makes you steady. It builds character that lasts.

So instead of pushing back out of pride or fear, try engaging with respect. Ask questions. Listen closely. Weigh what is said. You do not lose your voice when you listen—you make it sharper. In a world where noise often drowns out substance, choosing respect over reaction is a powerful act.

You do not have to know everything. You only have to care enough to learn.

The SCARS Institute will help you on that path if you let us.

Reference

What is a Polymath

A polymath is a person with deep knowledge in multiple, often unrelated, fields. The word comes from the Greek polymathēs, meaning “having learned much.” A true polymath is not just a generalist or someone with surface-level knowledge. You demonstrate polymathy by mastering the methods, language, and insights of several disciplines and being able to integrate them creatively.

Characteristics of a Polymath

• Curiosity across domains: You regularly pursue knowledge outside your formal area of expertise.
• Cross-disciplinary competence: You can work fluently in two or more distinct intellectual areas.
• Creative synthesis: You apply insights from one field to another, generating new ideas or approaches.
• Self-driven learning: Most polymaths build their knowledge independently, rather than relying solely on institutional education.

Historical examples include Leonardo da Vinci (art, anatomy, engineering), Benjamin Franklin (science, politics, writing), and Hypatia of Alexandria (mathematics, astronomy, philosophy). In modern terms, someone like Noam Chomsky or Elon Musk might qualify, depending on how strictly you define mastery.

How Rare Are Polymaths?

Polymaths are rare for several reasons:

• Educational specialization: Modern systems encourage narrow expertise rather than breadth.
• Time and discipline: Developing true expertise in multiple domains requires intense focus, often over decades.
• Cognitive flexibility: Few people are naturally inclined to think in fundamentally different ways across fields like physics, literature, and philosophy.

Still, the rise of the internet and open access to knowledge has made it easier to become a polymath—though few do it seriously. While many people dabble, true polymathy involves sustained, high-level contribution in multiple areas.

If you’re deeply curious, disciplined, and willing to think long-term, you can pursue polymathic development. It’s not about being good at everything. It’s about building bridges between different ways of thinking to solve problems or see what others miss.

The SCARS Institute has one of these, too. Our polypath holds 2 PhDs and 6 Master’s degrees.

Sources

• Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
• Schutz, A. (1953). Common-sense and scientific interpretation of human action. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research.
• Fischer, C. (2019). Online overconfidence: Oversimplification and epistemic risk. Information, Communication & Society.
• Nichols, T. (2017). The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters. Oxford University Press.
• Brennan, J. (2011). The Ethics of Voting. Princeton University Press — on the ethical responsibility of deferring to qualified knowledge in decision-making.