Confident Research in Confident Idiots

David Dunning, author of “We Are All Confident Idiots”, uses his research and sources to further prove his point, allowing other perspectives to rise to the occasion as well. He talks about the Jimmy Kimmel Live! Show’s prank to those interviewed, who pride themselves on knowing everything. The ignorance of the people relates to the psychology of how people think in various situations. Throughout the article, links of sources such as the Dunning-Kruger Effect, the National Financial Capability Study, and Deborah Keleman are used for easy access if the reader wants to know more information about the research Dunning made to write this article.

He includes pictures and videos in his article to have media-based articles to draw the reader in and know exactly what he is talking about. He references the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, where he and his graduate student published a paper in this expertise. The fact that he published a paper on this specific topic shows that he is well informed and trustworthy to give his opinion on the topic. He uses humor and emphasis to make valid points, at one point he italicized “something” to emphasize and create a voice within the article. He also bolds certain terms and phrases to make them stand out and become more important than other words. In terms of other voices, he quotes various people in the Jimmy Kimmel segment, and he comments on their reactions and how it relates to psychology as a whole. The audience is well informed of all the sources used, as well as what to look up if they want to be interactive and learn more about the topic. Dunning encompasses a wide range of methods throughout the article, and he creates a great atmosphere for readers everywhere to embark on a research-filled literary journey.

 

McImproving Writing through McSweeney’s Humor

McSweeney’s two essays give insight on how writing classes should work in today’s world. While traditional writing classes think they know what they are teaching you, these two essays create a fantastic set of humorous satire that pokes fun of the ridiculous writing styles in our modern day in age.

In Robert Lanham’s “Internet-Age Writing Syllabus“, a syllabus, similar to any other one in college, is displayed for a class for nonreaders. This hilarious interpretation flips writing on its head, making fun of the current readers and writers of our generation, who use insane abbreviations for everything and cannot properly read a full text to save their lives. While it makes fun of these people, it is also a huge waking call for the future writers who want to get out in the job industry, as the industry has turned into this social-media craze where a blog is right next to a gossip ad. The humor allows us to laugh at the state of writing, while also understanding how vital it is to improve writing in this digital life.

In Cameron Dodd’s “College Writing Assignments with Real-World Applications“, 11 absurd assignments were created to see who the most powerful writer in the universe is. These assignments are incredibly difficult, from writing a non-cliche explanation about your late rent to your landlord to writing an obituary for an asshole family member who you do not like. They really challenge the writer to embellish some kind of reason while knowing full well it is almost impossible. Dodd fully knows all of these are futile, and that is what really makes his humor as perfect as possible.

What both of these essays have in common is testing the capability of writing. We live in a world where you can no longer live safe all the time. With these humorous examples, it is an important time in society, in a world where text messages and tumblr control the world, where writing needs to be improved and tested in order for the quality of work to reach its full potential.